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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22974415">Hope in the Darkness</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephirothWasTaken/pseuds/StephirothWasTaken'>StephirothWasTaken</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Genderbent AUs [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy XV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Discussion of Abortion, Everything Turns Out Fine, F/M, Female Gladiolus Amicitia, Genderbending, Genderswap, Getting Together, I hate the title, I promise, Pregnancy, Some warnings that will spoil the ending, Unplanned Pregnancy, World of Ruin, vague warning at beginning of appropriate chapter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:20:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>23,640</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22974415</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephirothWasTaken/pseuds/StephirothWasTaken</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Finding love during the Endless Night was last on Gladio's list of priorities. She has spent her whole life putting her duties as a Shield above everything else, fighting tooth and nail for the right to have the position, but then suddenly her duties are stuck in another dimension without letting anyone know when he was going to come back.</p><p>All she can do is help keep the world together in his absence while Ardyn and the Scourge tear it apart with daemons and the Endless Night.</p><p>When Ignis confesses his life-long love for her, it throws her completely off balance, but when she finally reciprocates his affection, she finds herself thrown into a journey she had thought she would never experience. She finds a relationship with him gives her strength when she is about to lose all hope of survival in their dark world.</p><p>However, this journey of love leads Gladio down another path she had never considered, and she has no idea if she's going to make it to the other side okay.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Genderbent AUs [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1497593</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I tried to get this finished sooner so I could post this on my birthday, but now the day has arrived with this story only 3/4s finished because I keep rewriting chunks of it.</p><p>Anyway, I hope you enjoy this completely self-indulgent story that I couldn't get out of my head for some reason.</p><p>It's not beta read or as well-edited as I would like, but I think it will still mostly make sense.</p><p>Edited later: Trying to step up my summary game. Hopefully it's as decent to everyone else as much as it is to myself.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>-<b>One Year After the Fall</b>-</p><p>There was nothing worse to Gladio than hearing a red giant stomping around and having to stay laying in the caravan while other Hunters took care of it. She had spent the last year of her life fighting to protect everyone from the constant onslaught of daemons during the Endless Night, and she had done it without taking a break, barely even sleeping in between traveling through Eos to help with escorting refugees, protecting power lines, saving farmers, and countless other things. The list of things to do was ever-growing, and her broken arm forced her to sit at home.</p><p>Gladio sighed as she lifted the cast over her face. There were already signatures on it. Prompto had signed it with his surprisingly beautiful handwriting—for someone so clumsy and chaotic. Iris had written hers with entirely too many little hearts surrounding it. One orphan had caught sight of it and begged to sign it despite having no idea who she was.</p><p>There were plenty of signatures she bet she would have had if she were closer to them. Talcott was in Hammerhead, having traveled there alongside Ignis, and he was just as infatuated with Cindy as a lot of people seemed to be. Ignis had promised to visit her, but Gladio did not expect him to come any time soon because he was not only training to get used to fighting while blind but helping take care of Cid, whose health had taken a sharp decline after taking on too much work.</p><p>Gladio longed the most to get a signature from Noctis, but he had been missing for so long with no signs of when he would be back—if ever.</p><p>A sharp knock on the door jarred Gladio out of her thoughts. She sat up, and she pushed the curtains aside to look at who it was. From her vantage point, she could only see a silhouette, but the hair spiked up in the front was a dead giveaway that the stranger was Ignis.</p><p>“I’m coming!” Gladio called as she stood to answer the door.</p><p>Even a year later, it was still jarring to see the burn scars marring the left side of his face. His military-grade visors covered most of it, but she would never forget the way his left eyelid had been fused to the lower lid. He turned toward her, unable to focus his blind eyes on her, and he gave her a small smile.</p><p>“Hey, Iggy,” Gladio said. </p><p>“Good morning,” Ignis said.</p><p>“Oh, it’s morning?”</p><p>“It is, not that it matters.”</p><p>Gladio shrugged, even though he could not see it. She reached out and settled her hand on his shoulder, and he batted her hand away from him, insisting that he needed no help.</p><p>“Sorry,” Gladio said as she took a step back. “It’s a habit, I guess.”</p><p>“It’s all right. Regretfully, it has been quite some time since we’ve last seen each other.”</p><p>Gladio took another good look at him. He wore the same all-black uniform of the Kingsglaive that she had been wearing before her injury.</p><p>“You don’t have a cane anymore,” Gladio said, and she grimaced as she realized there was a better way to acknowledge the progress he had been making.</p><p>“I’m learning to navigate without it.”</p><p>“That’s good to hear. I’m proud of you, Iggy.”</p><p>Gladio thumped him on the shoulder, hating how awkward it felt. Ignis nodded. He cleared his throat as he adjusted the visors on his face—a leftover habit from the days he had worn glasses.</p><p>“Thank you,” he said, “but I’m here to see you. How are you fairing?”</p><p>“Fine. It’s just a broken arm. Nothing too serious.”</p><p>“Yes, but, I know how you get when you’re forced to sit still.”</p><p>“Oh, yeah, it’s driving me crazy that I can’t go and help out everyone dispatch daemons, but I know I’ll just get in everyone’s way like this.”</p><p>Ignis nodded, expression sad.</p><p>“Yes, I understand the feeling.”</p><p>Gladio was all too aware that losing his sight had been far more traumatizing to him than her breaking an arm would ever be.</p><p>“Come sit down,” she said. “I only have water to drink, but you’re welcome to it.”</p><p>“Are you taking pain medication for your arm?” Ignis asked as he made his way to the main living area with confidence despite his disability.</p><p>“Nah. If I don’t move it too much, it’s not that bad. I’d rather we save them for worse injuries.”</p><p>“Good. I was hoping we could share some wine.”</p><p>Ignis held out his hand, and a wine bottle materialized in his hand with a flash of blue light, the sound of tinkling glass, and the smell of ozone.</p><p>“Since when do you stash wine in the Armiger?” Gladio asked, chuckling.</p><p>“I have been for years. The only problem is that it doesn’t allow it to age.”</p><p>“True, but at least it’s always conveniently available to you whenever you want it.”</p><p>They summoned wine glasses from the Armiger, and they sat on the narrow couch, which was still warm from Gladio. To her surprise, Ignis asked her to open it. He might have been doing well, but he apparently did not trust himself well enough to avoid spilling wine all over the caravan.</p><p>“So, how’s everyone at Hammerhead?” Gladio asked as she filled their glasses. “I haven’t been that way in a long while?”</p><p>“They’re doing well,” Ignis said. “Talcott misses having someone more familiar to him around, but he seems to enjoy the work I’ve been giving him.”</p><p>“Yeah? What kind of work?”</p><p>“Jared taught him many things beyond the curriculum I had studied in school, and he’s been helping me make sense of ancient Solheim scriptures.”</p><p>“Found anything useful?”</p><p>“Not regarding Noctis, no.”</p><p>“Ah, and what about Cid?”</p><p>“He’s still working but not as hard as he was previously.”</p><p>“Good to hear. He gave all of us a big scare when he just collapsed like that.”</p><p>“Indeed, and Cindy is grateful.”</p><p>“I bet. He’s all the family she’s got left.”</p><p>Ignis hummed in agreement.</p><p>“And Cindy is doing well,” he added. “She’s been busy keeping the lights working throughout Lucis alongside Holly.”</p><p>Ignis grimaced as he tasted the wine, and Gladio bit back a chuckle. Gladio had never been much of a wine person, but Ignis had been quite the wine connoisseur. They could not afford to be picky, and poor Ignis had to suffer for it.</p><p>“I spoke to Iris on the way here,” Ignis said. “She seems to be well.”</p><p>“Yeah, she’s been doing a lot to help people out all over the country. I wish she would stay in Lestallum, but you know us Amicitias: you can’t get us to stop working until we break our bones.”</p><p>Ignis chuckled, a slight rumble in his throat. He drained his wine, and he set his glass down. Gladio refilled it before handing it back to him.</p><p>“She’s a smart girl,” Ignis said. “Strong and fiercely independent. I think she’ll be fine.”</p><p>“Yeah, I just can’t help but worry.”</p><p>“She’s stubborn, like you, and she doesn’t mince words when her friends need it.”</p><p>“It sounds like she gave you a talking to.”</p><p>“A much-needed one.”</p><p>Ignis set aside his wineglass, and he turned to face her. His cheeks turned pink, which was rare. She could not recall a time she had seen his face turn red. Even alcohol has never made him flush, and she was one of the lucky few who had gotten to see him wasted. He took a deep breath before he spoke:</p><p>“I have been hopelessly in love with you since we were children.”</p><p>Gladio blinked at Ignis as she replayed his words in her head. His face turned redder and redder as the seconds ticked by. Of all the things Gladio had expected him to say, that had to be somewhere on the bottom of the list. She thought about all the times they had spent together, but she struggled to think of an instance that should have clued her into these feelings.</p><p>Ignis cleared his throat, and he adjusted his visors.</p><p>“I realize this isn’t the most eloquent of ways to confess my feelings for you, and I assure you that our relationship doesn’t have to change at all should you not reciprocate my feelings.”</p><p>Gladio could not help chuckling, and guilt settled into her chest as his face somehow grew even redder.</p><p>“You just really said it so bluntly,” she said to ease his embarrassment.</p><p>“I’ve never been one for ambiguity.”</p><p>“True.”</p><p>“I also worried that perhaps trying to be romantic would make you feel like I was trying to pressure you into returning my feelings when that’s the last thing I want. Not that I think you would cave in to pressure, being the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.”</p><p>Gladio chuckled at that last part. She looked at their wine glasses.</p><p>“So, the wine wasn’t you trying to be romantic?” she asked.</p><p>“Well, perhaps a little. I thought the occasion deserved something better than <i>water</i>, and cheap wine is sadly the only other thing I have stored in the Armiger beyond cans of stale Ebony.”</p><p>And the Ebony was for Ignis and Ignis alone, Gladio thought with amusement.</p><p>The two of them settled into silence, Gladio pondering Ignis’s confession and Ignis waiting for her to say something about it. He tapped his wineglass with his fingers, and he looked ready to crawl out of his skin. She wanted to relieve him of the agony of waiting, but with Ignis being a dear friend, she needed to think about this new information carefully.</p><p>It was no mystery to her why Ignis would have kept his feelings for her hidden. It would have been taboo for them to date. Both of them were to dedicate their entire lives to protecting Noctis, and if they had gotten together, the old farts on the Council would have questioned her dedication to her duties as the Prince’s Shield. Considering that the Council had been reluctant to even allow her to obtain the title—being forced to when her father had failed to produce a male heir before her mother’s death—they would have likely replaced her with Iris.</p><p>Unfairly, Ignis might not have been too affected because he was the Hand-in-training, who would not have to put his duties on hold if he made an heir. No one expected him to have an heir because the title was not attached to a specific line of people.</p><p>It was for that reason she had never even allowed herself to consider dating anyone seriously. Gladio had wanted to be Noctis’s Shield. It might have been a title given to her rather than earned, but she had fought to be a good one, anyway. She had wanted to make her father proud, and she would have been fired quickly if the Council had had any doubts about her dedication to Noctis.</p><p>Because of her fears and Ignis’s social awkwardness, it was no wonder that Gladio had never noticed it before.</p><p>“‘Hopelessly in love,’ you said?” Gladio said, and she smiled as she replayed the sentence in her mind.</p><p>Ignis nodded, and he took a huge gulp of his wine.</p><p>“Even as children, you were always good at making up for my flaws, and you never put up with my pretentiousness. You are also beautiful and intelligent. It’s no wonder I’ve fallen for you.”</p><p>Gladio snorted. It had been ages since the last time she had gotten to work on her appearance, so she doubted the “beautiful” part was true anymore, if ever.</p><p>“That is flattering, Iggy,” she said. “I’m not sure what to say.”</p><p>“You’ve no need to say anything,” Ignis assured her. “I feel better just having let you know.”</p><p>“Then, I would like some time to think about it.”</p><p>Despite his words, Ignis dipped his head in what Gladio assumed was disappointment, and she ignored that pang of guilt in her chest again. He was not trying to pressure her into anything, and she needed some time to think about it.</p><p>“How does Iris fit into this?” she asked. “You said she lectured you about it.”</p><p>“Ah, yes,” Ignis said, and a hint of a smile returned to his face. “We got onto the subject of regret, and she said she wished she had confessed her feelings to Noctis, even though she knew he had not reciprocated. Somehow she got me to confess my feelings for you to her. I ended up promising to tell you, and I’m not one known for breaking promises.”</p><p>Gladio looked down at her cast, looking at Iris’s obnoxious signature next to Prompto’s. The girl was so much better at dealing with bullshit than Gladio, and she had never had the special training she had gone through to become the prince’s Shield. She deserved a lot of things, and Gladio wished she had pined after someone else.</p><p>“Do you think Noct liked her back?” she asked.</p><p>“Hm?”</p><p>“I mean, I know he loved Luna. The two sent a shit-ton of letters to each other throughout the years, but he’s spent a lot of time with Iris, too. You think he liked Iris? And I don’t mean like friends.”</p><p>Ignis pursed his lips as he thought.</p><p>“I think he always knew about her feelings for him, but you know how private he was. He kept to himself, but I like to think he might have—” Ignis waved a hand as he thought. “—explored his options had there not been the expectation that he would marry Lunafreya someday.”</p><p>Gladio hummed, not wanting to get too much deeper into the topic without Iris or Noctis around.</p><p>“You know, now that I think about it,” she said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you ‘explore your options.’”</p><p>“I didn’t do much of it, unfortunately,” Ignis said, face turning red. “I managed a few dates, but I was stretched rather thin growing up, given entirely too much to do in a day. I barely had the time to meet someone that I could date, and I befriended no one beyond Noctis and you. Well, and Prompto, once he came along.”</p><p>“Yeah, that makes sense. Beyond the Crownsguard and the Kingsglaive, I didn’t have a lot of friends growing up.”</p><p>“That’s a surprise coming from someone who was so much more personable.”</p><p>“Yeah, well, I had the Council breathing down my neck, waiting for some excuse to boot me out of the position of Shield. They were obsessed with worrying about my priorities. Looking at someone the wrong way would have a Councilor running to my dad to make sure I wasn’t suddenly thinking about starting a family.”</p><p>“I sat in a few meetings when the old men would gossip about you. Regis was always quick to set them straight, and there were few with glares more terrifying than your father’s.”</p><p>“They really stuck up for me. Mostly because my dad didn’t want to get married again and make a new heir, but both of them always told me I was making good progress. It made dealing with their shit always feel worth it.”</p><p>“I’m glad you stuck with it despite everything. Your friendship has been valuable to all of us.”</p><p>Flashes of what had happened to them in Altissia came to Gladio’s memory, the way she had found Ignis burned and sobbing on the ground at the altar of Leviathan, and the anger she had felt and taken out on everyone around her. She had tried to leave Ignis behind in Cartanica, and she had been too harsh on both Prompto and Noctis—all out of fear that they would fail their duties in saving Eos.</p><p>“Ah, that solemn silence again every time you think back to our arguments on the train,” Ignis said.</p><p>“I still have no idea how you know that every time,” Gladio said, and her chuckle felt more sincere than it had been in previous conversations about it.</p><p>“Years and years of friendship has taught me all of your telltale signs of distress, including the ones I need not see.”</p><p>“You were always scary with how observant you are.”</p><p>Ignis chuckled. He drank the last of his glass of wine, and a solemn look returned to his face.</p><p>“It’s my job, and frankly, I enjoy it, even if I am ‘scary,’ as you say.”</p><p>“Wouldn’t have you any other way.”</p><p>“And you need not continue to feel guilty for things you said on the way to Gralea. I’ve long forgiven you. Prompto has long forgiven you. Noctis was never one to hold a grudge, so I’ve no doubts that he has already forgotten all about it.”</p><p>Gladio hummed, but she was still worried. Her prince was hanging out with the gods in a different dimension, and one of the last things she had said to him was that he was “a coward.” That pang of guilt rose in her chest again, and she could not hold back the sigh at the memory of it.</p><p>“Perhaps I should begin cooking lunch,” Ignis said, choosing not to continue down that grim path with her.</p><p>“You can cook again?” Gladio asked.</p><p>“Not as well as I once could, but I’ve gotten markedly better.”</p><p>“That’s great! Let me help, yeah?”</p><p>Ignis offered a faint smile and nodded. He stood, and he went straight to the kitchen. Gladio helped him find where everything was, and then she went to work helping him prepare perfectly preserved ingredients from the Armiger.</p>
<hr/><p>-<b>Two Years After the Fall</b>-</p><p>A year was a torturously long time to hold back on making a confession after someone makes their confession first, but in Gladio’s defense, she had not seen Ignis in a year since the day he had confessed to her. She had only seen Prompto once since then, and that was by random chance. The daemons were getting stronger, and Hunters and Kingsglaive were busier than ever around Eos.</p><p>They had yet to suffer any major losses, but Cor Leonis had already lowered the age requirements for training—just to make sure they stayed a step ahead of Ardyn’s ever-growing army of daemons. That day had left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth, but no one had appointed Cor as a military leader because he shied away from tough decisions. He was ruthless in all things when necessary.</p><p>Gladio had been doing a better job of keeping tabs on everyone.</p><p>Cindy had left behind Hammerhead so that the Kingsglaive could use it as an important stop before getting into Insomnia. The daemons were at their strongest there, and with Cindy’s skills as a mechanic, the Hunters needed her somewhere safer. Cid and Talcott had gone with her, but Talcott was doing a lot of traveling by himself, helping the Hunters with notes from his grandfather’s journals everywhere he could. Sania Jaeger, an overenthusiastic scientist, liked to monopolize his time whenever Ignis wasn’t requesting help investigating old ruins and tombs.</p><p>Iris hung out mostly around Lestallum, but she was starting to make a name for herself among the other Hunters. She would run into people who would brag all about how many people Iris had saved, and it made her heart swell with pride. Prompto saw her more often somehow, and Gladio had hundreds of pictures of the two of them on her phone.</p><p>Prompto had trained to get even better at fighting daemons. He could use two pistols at once now, and Gladio had witnessed him taking out daemons that were a lot bigger than goblins and imps—all by himself. She had never felt more proud of the kid.</p><p>Ignis traveled all over Lucis trying to gather as much lost information about Ardyn and the gods as he could before Noctis’s return, which she was hearing more and more about, thanks to how much he talked about it with absolutely everyone within Lucis. It was helping to lift everyone’s spirits, believing that the Darkness would end eventually, even if they did not know when that would be.</p><p>Gladio would finally see Ignis. They were to take a short break in Old Lestallum, where they get a small apartment instead of a damned caravan for a change. On Gladio’s end, Cor Leonis himself had arranged for the break, reminding her she needed to rest every now and again, but for Ignis, he was just smarter than everyone and took proper care of himself. She envied his ability to be so rational all the time. Every time she took a break, she felt such a pang of immense guilt in her soul that she always try to figure out <i>something</i> to do with herself.</p><p>Having Ignis around this time would be nice. He would be a good distraction from her darker thoughts, and she could finally get some things off her chest.</p><p>It had been a long time since Gladio had felt the need to buy “the good soap.” Everyone kept clean to the best of their abilities, but the fancy, good-smelling soap was a thing of the past. She had seen some nicer soaps still around, but it was becoming rarer and rarer because no one was making it but finding it on special runs into Insomnia.</p><p>Arriving at Old Lestallum before Ignis, Gladio went to the marketplace where people did more trading than they did buying these days, and she hoped and prayed that she found pre-world-of-ruin soap. To her luck, there was one of the cheaper brands that promised to soften her skin while also making her smell like flowers, but they chopped it in half. Not that that was much of a surprise. People did that to meet the greater demand for it.</p><p>Gladio traded some of her scavenged food—not some of her precious Cup Noodles—for the half bar of soap and a new travel box to store it, and she dashed back to her temporary apartment, heart thudding in her chest as she thought about how her long-overdue meeting with Ignis would go.</p><p>Part of her worried that Ignis might have lost interest in her after all of that time they had been apart. She knew Ignis to be loyal to a fault—the poor man losing his vision because of it—but it was not like he owed her anything. He might have realized she was a lost cause and already moved on.</p><p>Another part of her worried that she would be a terrible girlfriend if he was still interested. Gladio was busy helping run the Kingsglaive throughout the city of Lucis, and she ran all over the country—sometimes outside of the country—to help lost refugees and defend important strongholds against daemons and the occasional rogue MT.</p><p>Gladio had little experience with dating. She had had plenty of flings, but she had never allowed herself serious relationships. There had been that one time when she had developed genuine feelings for a ‘Glaive, but she had never done much with those feelings beyond pine from a distance.</p><p>Gladio breathed in the sweet scent of the soap, and she pushed the negative thoughts to the back of her mind. It would do her no good to think of her past dating life now. The world differed vastly from it had once been, and with those differences came new opportunities to take bolder chances. Besides that, Gladio was confident she would never lose Ignis as a friend no matter what happened because of their duties to Noctis.</p><p>When Gladio emerged from her shower, her skin felt better than it had when she had entered it, but the smell was disappointingly faint on her skin. She had a nice lotion that she kept in the Armiger at least, and she had been saving it for special occasions—and when her skin was especially dry.</p><p>Gladio’s hair was a mess she had not had the luxury of worrying about in a long time. She had let the sides grow out because keeping them shaved had turned into a great annoyance, and she normally pulled it back into a messy ponytail.</p><p>Tonight she wanted to figure something else out, nothing too fancy but something better than a ponytail.</p><p>Gladio wiped off the steam from the mirror in the bathroom, and she ran her hands through her damp hair. It was so thick and dense that most girls she had ever met had always envied it while she had resented how much more time was required to work with it just for simple hairstyles.</p><p>She had never really taken the time to learn how to work with it, and she wished she had begged Iris to come and help her with it.</p><p>It was as she was trying to both dry and straighten it with one of Noctis’s fire-filled magic flasks when she heard her phone go off. She checked it, and she found a text from Ignis. He had just arrived in Old Lestallum, and he would be at her apartment in half an hour.</p><p>Gladio sighed, realizing she had just run out of time to figure something out for her hair. Ignis would at least not care what her hair looked like as long as it was clean. Her Kingsglaive uniform was the only nice outfit she had, but it got filthy after a single fight. It also required special cleaning because of all the leather. She put on a dress she had dumped into the Armiger out of shame years ago when the Council had first gone crying to her father about their “concerns” over her loyalty to the royal line.</p><p>Gladio had just wanted to look nice for a special event, and she had not yet earned the title of Shield. Her father had told her not to listen to the crazy old men, but she remembered being so upset over it she stormed up to her room and placed the clothes into the Armiger where she had intended to keep them forever—an abuse of Noctis’s powers for sure but not the worst example of it she had ever come across.</p><p>Although she really did not need to bother because Ignis could not see her, anyway.</p><p>Gladio was worrying over her hair again when there was a knock on the door, and she answered it. He wore what he considered casual for him: slacks with a button-down shirt. There were some fresh bruises on his collarbones, and his arm was tucked into a sling.</p><p>“Hey, Iggy,” Gladio said. “Looks like you got really roughed up.”</p><p>“Ah, yes,” he began, “I made a small mistake while on the field yesterday, but luckily the only tragedies of the day were my cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder. I apologize if I look ghastly.”</p><p>“Never. Come in! Sit down! I’ll go heat up some water for coffee.”</p><p>Ignis perked up at the word coffee, and Gladio chuckled as she explained:</p><p>“Yeah, someone was offering it for trade around Cape Caem. It will not be amazing, but I figured it would be about as good as we will get these days. It’s whole bean, so maybe it has retained some of its proper flavor.”</p><p>“Ah, yes, that would be nice.”</p><p>But they left it unsaid that neither of them expected much from it.</p><p>They went into the kitchen together, and Gladio felt butterflies in her stomach as she thought about how she would confess to him. He had just blurted it out over wine, but she was not sure if she could do the same over coffee. It was unnerving to think he might have even changed his mind about the whole thing since they had been apart.</p><p>“How’s Talcott been?” Gladio asked as she filled up an electric water kettle, one of the few amenities they were afforded these days. “I haven’t seen the little guy in such a long time.”</p><p>“He seems happy—about as happy as anyone can expect him to be under these circumstances.”</p><p>“I have to admit that I feel guilty every time I think of him. He’s practically part of our family, and I can count on one hand all the times I’ve seen him this year.”</p><p>“He’s quite understanding of the circumstances,” Ignis said. “I know he misses you and Iris, but he’s also glad to help people, especially at a young age. I always tell him how proud of him you would be, so make sure you remind him the next time you get the chance to.”</p><p>“Will do. He deserves it.”</p><p>“Indeed.”</p><p>“He’s always been a smart kid. I know I shouldn’t worry about him as much as I do, but I can’t help it, you know? He’s so <i>tiny</i>.”</p><p>Ignis chuckled at that.</p><p>“I’ll not tell him you said so.”</p><p>“Maybe you should so he always eats his vegetables.”</p><p>“He has not been as difficult as Noctis in that regard. In fact, I think I have yet to find something he doesn’t like.”</p><p>“Mushrooms. You have to hide them or he’ll pick them out.”</p><p>“Ah, good to know.”</p><p>A comfortable silence settled between them. With Gladio keeping better tabs on everything than she had previously, there was little for them to catch up on, and she was glad that their friendship felt relatively the same as it always had.</p><p>It was also a good time to do some confessing.</p><p>Gladio felt her face heat up, and she took a deep breath before she spoke:</p><p>“So, Iggy, I have something I should say to you.”</p><p>Ignis’s remaining eyebrow lifted. An emotion flitted briefly across his face, but she could not tell if it was hope or fear.</p><p>“Yes?” was all he said.</p><p>“I think I’ve left you hanging for a stupidly long time, haven’t I?” she said. “Regarding what you said to me about a year ago.”</p><p>Ignis’s face turned bright red. He cleared his throat, and he pushed up his visors.</p><p>“I think you already know about the stuff I had to put up with growing up as a Shield. The Council was on my ass about everything, and that’s probably why you never told me, right?”</p><p>Ignis only nodded in answer, and warmth bloomed in her chest at the realization that he probably felt too embarrassed to say anything.</p><p>“Anyway, the point is, I really want to try having a relationship with you.”</p><p>Ignis’s body sagged with relief.</p><p>“You do?” he asked.</p><p>“Yeah, I mean, if you’d like to.”</p><p>“I do! Earnestly, I have wanted nothing more.”</p><p>There was no need to mention that Noctis was his number one priority because it was the same for her, and that was the unspoken understanding that each of them had.</p><p>Gladio felt her cheeks warm up again, but that feeling was quick to spread throughout the rest of her body. She stood from the table, and careful not to jostle his arm, she sat in his lap. His entire body flushed, and she smirked at him.</p><p>“I have one question first,” Ignis said, and he gulped.</p><p>“Go on.”</p><p>“What exactly made you realize that you wanted to try having a romance with me?”</p><p>Gladio paused to think about it.</p><p>“There’s a lot to like about you, Ignis. You’re straightforward and one of the most intelligent men I’ve ever known. You never hesitate to take care of those around you. You never give up when you're determined to do something.”</p><p>Gladio paused again, and she leaned forward so her mouth hovered over his, trusting he would warn her if she was aggravating his injuries. His hand settled on her hip, and his fingers spread out, feeling the texture of her dress.</p><p>“You’re also incredibly sexy and all too aware of it,” Gladio said, and she grinned at the scandalized look he gave her in response.</p><p>“I’m not sure how to take that,” Ignis said.</p><p>“You could argue with me about it, or you could kiss me.”</p><p>Ignis’s face melted into a fond expression, and he leaned forward. Gladio pressed her lips to his, unsurprised that his lips were softer than hers despite all the effort she had put into them over the last couple of days. He lifted his good arm to her face, and his fingers slid into the hair along the side of her face.</p><p>There was a loud <i>ping</i>, and both of them startled apart. It took Gladio too many seconds to remember that she had turned on the electric water kettle, and she huffed at the realization.</p><p>“Damn, I forgot about the water kettle,” she grumbled.</p><p>With his hand on her face, Ignis could guide himself to her face, and he pressed a kiss to her jawline.</p><p>“Electricity is a rather precious resource,” he said. “It would be a shame to waste it.”</p><p>“I’m not in the mood for stale coffee anymore.”</p><p>Gladio leaned down to nuzzle his neck, and she felt a twitch against her thigh. She frowned when he turned his face, and he looked torn.</p><p>“Iggy?”</p><p>“Forgive me. I’m not physically at my best at the moment.”</p><p>Gladio drew away with a gasp.</p><p>“Oh, am I hurting you?”</p><p>“No, no, no, not in the slightest, but that would change quickly should we go as far as I think the both of us wish to go.”</p><p>The weight of disappointment settled in Gladio’s chest, but she understood his point. He was hurting, and cracked ribs were <i>painful</i>. She imagined he was on pain medication, and that might have been the only way he had tolerated her sitting in his lap.</p><p>Gladio gave him a quick kiss, and she climbed from his lap.</p><p>“Coffee time, then.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Ignis said, sounding just as disappointed as she felt.</p><p>“Hey, you need to heal up, and you’re excellent company.”</p><p>“Should you still wish to cuddle, I’m more than happy to oblige.”</p><p>“Yeah, I’ll take you up on that.”</p><p>Gladio leaned down and gave him a languid kiss. The water kettle <i>ping</i>ed again, and she parted with a sigh.</p><p>“All right, all right. I‘m coming,” she grumbled, and she left a chuckling Ignis to prepare their coffee.</p>
<hr/><p>-<b>Three Years After the Fall</b>-</p><p>“Let’s stop seeing each other once every few months,” Gladio said into the crook of Ignis’s neck.</p><p>They laid in the cramped bed of the caravan they had taken over in Meldacio HQ, tangled in each other’s arms. Gladio’s body still burned from the intensity of their lovemaking, her hips already aching in the most satisfying way, and she found that the bruise on her back—an unfortunate souvenir from a fight with some red giants—had not hindered her enjoyment of the moment at all.</p><p>“Indeed,” Ignis said, and he ran his hands over her body, sending heat all through her again. “I don’t like being apart from you.”</p><p>“At least neither of us are injured this time.”</p><p>Ignis chuckled, the sound vibrating through his chest. Gladio rested her hand over his heart to catch some of it.</p><p>“I’m happy if all I can do is chat with you, but yes, I wish we could have done this sooner.”</p><p>“It doesn’t help that Cor has me traveling <i>everywhere</i>, and it’s never wherever you are at the same time.”</p><p>“We could always try telling him. He might be more willing to station you wherever you want to be.”</p><p>Gladio tensed in Ignis’s arms, remembering the cruel words of politicians back when she had been a teenager. Ignis pulled her tighter to himself, and he kissed her forehead.</p><p>“He knows us better than those old men ever tried to know us, Gladio,” Ignis reminded her, “and he’s far more reasonable. Besides that, it would be rather hypocritical of him to chastise us for getting into a relationship when he is in one himself.”</p><p>“Yeah, but they’re not part of Noctis’s retinue. It’s different for us. We’ve got a destiny and shit to fulfill.”</p><p>“The Marshal always must remind you to take a break, if I am remembering things correctly, and I know he does it because he cares about you deeply.”</p><p>Gladio recalled when he had taken her to Taelpar Crag to fight against Gilgamesh. It had been surreal at first, just hanging out with him in between fights, but she had also learned so much more about him. He had had a close bond with her father, and he had taken it upon himself to look out for her, taking her under his wing when she was feeling lost.</p><p>Gladio sighed, and Ignis shivered as her breath struck his neck.</p><p>“I would just feel guilty, you know,” she admitted. “I want to do everything I can to help, and if something went wrong because I wasn’t where I was supposed to be, I’d never be able to forgive myself.”</p><p>A lump formed in her throat, and she swallowed to get rid of it. Ignis ran his hand through her hair, and he shifted so he could bring his nose to the top of her head, which he did to comfort himself as much as her.</p><p>“I understand,” he whispered. “It’s frustrating to sit at home translating ancient text while we lose people every day to daemons.”</p><p>Ignis was a Kingsglaive by name only. He helped Cor wherever he could, but he spent most of his time traveling to gather as much information about Ardyn and the prophecy as possible. Gladio had thought little about it before because it was just as important to gather information about their enemy as it was to fight against him, but she would go insane doing that herself.</p><p>“But we can’t be everywhere, darling,” he continued.</p><p>Ignis wrapped his arms around her again. She pulled her own arms tighter around him, and she kissed his neck, finding that place that made him shiver. </p><p>“I don’t know how you can be so reasonable all the time,” she said.</p><p>“It is what they have groomed me to be since I was a boy.”</p><p>Gladio slid the hand on his chest lower to tease him.</p><p>“Maybe we should get into something more fun, yeah?”</p><p>Ignis turned his face to her, mouth pressed together in a firm line, and if she had not known better, she could have sworn his milky white left eye stared right at her. She braced herself for him to continue the argument, to make some kind of perfectly reasonable statement about how she was working herself to death, but instead, he said:</p><p>“Are you testing my stamina, Amicitia?”</p><p>“Just making up for lost time, but if you’re not up for it—”</p><p>Ignis suddenly rolled them so Gladio was on her back, and the full length of his body pinned her to the bed. His mouth hovered just over hers, and there was a subtle upturn at the corners of his lips. Gladio’s heart picked up speed in her chest as warmth spread in her nether regions, and it got even faster as she felt him poking into her thigh.</p><p>“I think you’ll find I’m quite <i>up</i> for it,” he said.</p><p>Before she could think of anything to say, his mouth descended on hers, and they each proved to the other that their stamina was quite impressive.</p>
<hr/><p>-<b>Five Years After the Fall</b>-</p><p>They had been losing outposts left and right because the Endless Night was making the daemons stronger, and it was getting harder and harder to keep up with them. Gladio was feeling the struggle in her bones, every square inch of her body feeling like someone had pulverized her with a meat tenderizer, and she was nauseous <i>all the time</i>.</p><p>No one needed to tell her to take a break because she knew she needed one, but with so many outposts falling to daemons at once, she found that she could <i>not</i> get that break. She had to keep moving, and some civilians needed help to get to a safer place.</p><p>It was sadly no surprise to her when she woke on an uncomfortable cot in an impromptu clinic. Her body was sore, particularly in her abdomen, and she felt her mouth fill with saliva as the urge to vomit struck her like a freight train. She sat bolt upright, clamping a hand over her mouth, and she looked about the room. A brightly colored bucket floated in front of her, and before she could register who might have given her that bucket, she grabbed it and heaved bile into it.</p><p>“I’m right next to you, Gladdy.”</p><p>Gladio felt her body relax at the sound of her sister’s voice, and she relaxed even more as she felt hands rub her back. She heaved a few times more, and she felt well enough to finally look up. They were in a small curtained off area of a building she did not recognize. She heard some low murmuring elsewhere in the building, and someone was snoring in their sleep.</p><p>Iris remained short, but she was broader with muscle. Her hair was long and pulled back into a ponytail with a red ribbon. The dirt on her face covered up some scars she had earned in all the years she had been fighting daemons all over Lucis. She gave her a sad smile as she pulled out a handkerchief to wipe off Gladio’s mouth.</p><p>“Hey, I’ve got some crackers for you,” Iris said. “You need to eat them to feel better.”</p><p>“I’ve been feeling like shit for weeks,” Gladio complained even as she took the crackers that Iris offered her.</p><p>Iris was oddly quiet at that, but there was a part of Gladio that was grateful for it. She took a bite of a cracker, grimacing at the taste of bile in her mouth.</p><p>“Where am I?” Gladio asked.</p><p>“In Longwythe. I came here to help. Casualties were pretty minimal considering the circumstances. We only lost a couple of people, and everyone who got hurt should make a full recovery.”</p><p>Gladio nodded, recalling how she had watched a Yojimbo cut down one of the ‘Glaives. She had tried to reach them, but she had just been so <i>tired</i>. Everyone had been.</p><p>“Thanks,” she said. “Everything went to shit really quickly.”</p><p>“Yeah, I’m sorry, but you went above and beyond to help as many people as you could.”</p><p>Iris pressed cool lips to Gladio’s temple, and she wrapped her arms around Gladio, who rested a hand on Iris’s arm. She could smell her unique scent mixed with the soap that everyone used these days.</p><p>“Eat your crackers,” Iris said as she drew away from Gladio—a little too soon, Gladio thought. “I’ll go get you some breakfast and something to drink.”</p><p>Gladio reluctantly let Iris slip away, and she caught a glimpse of nurses pushing patients around in wheelchairs before the curtains blocked her view of them again. She sighed, and she continued to eat her crackers. When she noticed the bucket sitting in her lap, she set it on the floor with disgust. After a while, she remembered her phone, and she looked around, relieved when she found it sitting next to her.</p><p>The screen of the device had cracked a long time ago, but it still worked, which was all that really mattered these days. Gladio had missed a few phone calls from Ignis, and she had missed a lot of messages from a lot of people. She first answered the text from Cor, who was just asking her to let him know when she was awake because he was worried, and then she told Prompto, Cindy, and Talcott that she was fine.</p><p>Ignis had sent her many texts since the last time she had looked at them, and she read through them. He had found some interesting texts about Ardyn, and he was excited about the possibility of giving them an important clue to fighting him. The last message he had sent was him expressing concern about her falling in the middle of battle, and he was coming to see her, even though he was all the way in Gralea.</p><p>Gladio almost told him to stay, but she knew that he would come regardless. She also did very much wish for him to come to her.</p><p>The curtains slashed open, and Gladio turned just as Iris stepped through, carrying a bowl of what would undoubtedly be rice porridge. Gladio asked her if that was what it was.</p><p>“You guessed it,” the younger woman said, and she handed Gladio the bowl. “Not too many options left to us anymore, especially in clinics like this.”</p><p>“Yeah. I probably wouldn’t be able to stomach much else anyway.”</p><p>Iris handed Gladio a bottle of water, and she took a sip from it before she forced herself to eat the rice porridge. Her little sister was oddly quiet, tapping her fingers on her own bottle of water, and when Gladio looked at her face, she noticed her brow furrowed with worry.</p><p>“Did something happen that I need to worry about?” Gladio asked.</p><p>Iris grimaced. She took a large swig of her water, and she set it aside.</p><p>“Yeah, there’s something you need to know,” she admitted.</p><p>“What’s wrong?” Gladio asked, and she set aside her bowl of rice porridge to reach out to Iris, who clasped their hands together.</p><p>“It’s, um, something the doctors found out when they were checking you over last night. They found, uh, something, um—” Iris scratched at her cheek as she struggled to find her words. “Once everything settled down, I told the doctor that you hadn’t been feeling well for a while, and they did a piss test. They, um, you’re—”</p><p>Iris paused, and she squeezed Gladio’s hand.</p><p>“Come on,” Gladio said. “Out with it.”</p><p>Iris took one more deep breath before she finally said:</p><p>“You’re pregnant, Gladdy.”</p><p>Gladio’s blood went cold, and she felt vertigo for a moment. The cot creaked as Iris sat next to her, and the younger woman wrapped her arms around her, holding her upright.</p><p>“I <i>can’t</i> be,” Gladio said. “That’s not—”</p><p>“I know,” Iris said.</p><p>“I’m a <i>Shield</i>. This can’t happen before Noct comes back.”</p><p>“I know, Gladdy.”</p><p>Gladio felt her chest tighten as she thought of a dirt-covered Noctis finally returning to Lucis, and she was heavy with a baby when he needed her most. The disappointment on his face would be unbearable.</p><p>Cool lips to her temple forced her mind back to the clinic.</p><p>“I’ve already arranged for transport to Lestallum,” Iris said. “There are doctors with better equipment there, and they’ll be able to help you, okay? I’ll go with you unless you don’t want me to.”</p><p>Gladio took a shuddering breath, and she wrapped her arms around Iris. Her abdomen ached.</p><p>“Please come with me,” Gladio said.</p><p>“Of course, of course. I won’t let you go through this alone, okay? I’ll be right here with you until you tell me to go away.”</p><p>Gladio stayed quiet as she buried her face in the crook of her sister’s neck, taking in her comforting scent.</p><p>“I called Iggy earlier,” Iris added. “I didn’t tell him everything, just that you passed out. He’ll meet us in Lestallum, and we should get there before he does.”</p><p>Gladio had no idea if it was a comfort or not that they would get there first, that she would have to be the one to tell him.</p>
<hr/><p>~<i>At 12 Weeks</i>~</p><p>Iris kept true to her word the entire way to Lestallum. The Amicitia sisters clung to each other as they sat in the back of a truck that had been mounted with daemon-repelling lights, only releasing each other to help fend off some weaker daemons. They were together as they arranged for an apartment, and Iris convinced Gladio to eat a full meal even though she had no appetite.</p><p>Then, after a restless night waiting for Ignis’s texts about his arrival, Gladio had to go to the doctor, who confirmed not only her pregnancy but that she was three months along and underweight. They squeezed her in for another appointment in two weeks, and she got a temporary apartment, where she waited for Ignis to arrive. On the way, he got stuck helping save civilians when another outpost went down.</p><p>When Gladio got the message that Ignis had arrived, she rushed to the parking lot on the outskirts of the city. She found him strolling across the lot, holding out a hand to help him navigate around vehicles, and she called out to him as she ran to him. He paused, turning toward her voice.</p><p>Gladio flung her arms around him, and he stumbled back, gasping in surprise.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” she whined into the crook of his neck. “I just really missed you.”</p><p>“Darling, I’ve missed you as well,” Ignis said, and he wrapped his arms around her and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. “I came here as quickly as I could as soon as Iris told me you’d been hurt.”</p><p>“Hey, Iggy!” Iris called.</p><p>Gladio pushed herself away, and she felt the cool dampness of her cheeks, which she wiped on her sleeve. Iris stood on her toes to kiss Ignis on the cheek, and she gave Gladio a sad smile.</p><p>“I’m going to the market,” Iris said. “Do you guys want me to pick you up anything?”</p><p>“No, I’ve already picked up everything I need,” Ignis said, “but I appreciate the offer.”</p><p>Iris nodded to Gladio, and she headed toward the market, giving them a little wave.</p><p>“Okay! Let me know if you change your mind!”</p><p>Gladio watched Iris disappear behind a building, and she sighed, suddenly aware of how tight her body had gotten despite the relief that he was finally there and safe. She looped her arm through his. If it had been anyone else, he would have reprimanded them for trying to help him, but he had learned a while back it was just her showing her affection toward him.</p><p>“How are you, Gladio?” Ignis asked. “You don’t sound well.”</p><p>“I think it would be better if we went to our room,” Gladio said, looking around at Hunters meeting with their families.</p><p>“Gladio?”</p><p>Ignis turned his face toward her, wrinkling his brow.</p><p>“I’ll just say for now that I didn’t get hurt in a fight,” Gladio explained. “I passed out, and the reason I passed out was the reason Iris asked you to come here.”</p><p>Ignis did not look relieved in the slightest at that news, but he allowed her to guide him to the rented room in silence.</p><p>“You can take a shower first,” Gladio said, “if you need one.”</p><p>“I think I would prefer to hear what you have to say first.”</p><p>“Right.”</p><p>Gladio took a deep breath, and she sat on the couch, calling to Ignis so he could join her. He turned toward her with his brow still furrowed, and he pressed his lips thin with worry. She grasped his hand, and he gave hers a gentle squeeze.</p><p>“What is it?” Ignis asked. “It’s not like you to stall.”</p><p>“I’m sorry. I just—” Gladio took another deep breath. “It turns out I’m pregnant.”</p><p>Ignis stiffened at the news. “Ah” was all he said, as he turned away, looking even more worried. She felt a pang in her chest at the motion, but she reminded herself that it would be unfair to deny him a moment to process the information.</p><p>“Yeah,” Gladio continued, “it turns out I passed out because of anemia, caused by the pregnancy. I wasn’t eating right when we were fighting to keep outposts, so I bottomed out when things got rough.”</p><p>Ignis remained silent. He adjusted his visors on his face, and Gladio thought she might have even noticed a tremor in his hand. Her body grew even tenser as the silent seconds stretched between them.</p><p>“This is rather unfortunate timing,” Ignis said, his voice thick.</p><p>“Yeah, I have another appointment scheduled to, you know, take care of it.”</p><p>Ignis only nodded.</p><p>The tightness in her chest should have lessened when she had finally told him about it, but an ache seemed to rise in her instead, especially when he looked so pained. Neither of them had spoken about children before. They were in the middle of an apocalyptic scenario, so Gladio had seen little point in bringing it up during the few times they had gotten together.</p><p>She realized that may have been a mistake.</p><p>“We never talked much about what we would do in a situation like this, did we?” Gladio said.</p><p>Ignis cleared his throat, and he adjusted his visors again. He tightened his grip of her hand, and she squeezed back.</p><p>“No, I suppose we didn’t,” he said.</p><p>“Do you think we should go through with it?”</p><p>“What specifically do you mean? The termination?”</p><p>“Yeah, I guess so.”</p><p>“It makes sense to. We’re both expected to be ready to help Noctis fight through Insomnia and fight Ardyn, and you wouldn’t be able to do that while pregnant, should he return during that time.”</p><p>“Yeah, and I would need a lot of time to get back into peak condition.”</p><p>“Indeed.”</p><p>A tense silence fell between them again, the tension in her body worsening, and she felt the ache in her abdomen. She fought the urge to press her hand over the small mound, which seemed to have gotten there overnight without her noticing.</p><p>“I guess that’s it then,” Gladio sighed.</p><p>Ignis turned to her then, and he asked:</p><p>“Do <i>you</i> want to go through with it? Your feelings matter as well.”</p><p>Gladio’s shoulders slumped.</p><p>Ever since Iris had broken the news to her, Gladio’s emotions had been all over the place, and she had a hard time making heads or tails of it. Gladio knew her duties as a Shield, and she was proud of that position. She had fought so hard for it, and she wanted to hold on to it more than anything.</p><p>Except there was a part of her that grieved the chance for something normal, something domestic, which scornful old men had denied her entire life.</p><p>Gladio did not believe that she would have married anyone before the Endless Night had begun if they had been more supportive, but just before the road trip to Altissia, she had not even considered that life a possibility. Now she was happily dating someone who she cared about deeply, and now she realized there was something <i>else</i> outside of her reach: <i>children</i>, an idea she had let go of years ago, back when it had seemed like a less pressing matter than training.</p><p>“I don’t know,” Gladio said.</p><p>Ignis nodded. He slid an arm around her shoulders, and she settled her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him in return.</p><p>“Perhaps I could go with you to the appointment,” he suggested, “if you would like me to.”</p><p>Gladio felt her eyes grow warm, but she never felt the tears slip down her cheeks.</p><p>“Yeah, please come with me.”</p><p>Ignis pressed a kiss to her hair.</p><p>“Of course, darling.”</p><p>Gladio wished that made her feel better.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I've been struggling through writer's burnout, which takes a while to recover from, but I think I'm finally getting better. The next chapter should be out by the end of this week (but no promises, unfortunately).</p><p>Violence might come into play later (due to the nature of the game), but I'm not sure yet. We'll see.</p><p>Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are deeply appreciated and help keep me motivated to write more.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am terribly sorry for how long this took me to get up. Focusing and time management have always been a great weakness of mine.</p><p>Quick Warning regarding the "warnings that spoil the story" tag. They do involve Gladio's pregnancy, but I promise that it works out well, if you need to know that.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>~<i>At 14 Weeks</i>~</p><p>Gladio should have suspected from the beginning that Iris had been the one who had called Cor Leonis and asked him to visit with Gladio. The phone call had been a surprise because he was trying to establish a base in Insomnia, and whenever Cor Leonis had his mind set on something, it was rare for him to stray from it.</p><p>Iris’s admission that morning, before leaving to go on a Hunt, had explained the uncharacteristic behavior.</p><p>It had been Gladio’s fault, really. Over the last week, she had done nothing but lay in bed since Ignis had left to continue his search of Solheim ruins alongside the twelve-year-old Talcott, and she skipped taking a shower a few too many days. Iris had come in and nagged at her to take better care of herself.</p><p>Receiving the news had been more than enough motivation to get up and take a shower. She had nearly broken down into tears when she had tried putting on her Kingsglaive uniform and found she had too big for it. Cor might have been like an uncle to her, but he was also her superior, regardless of her status as a Shield. Wearing civilian clothes in front of him felt like going up to him naked: inappropriate and wrong.</p><p>She made lunch while she waited for him to arrive, just to get her mind off it.</p><p>Gladio heard Cor’s sharp knock as she filled the water kettle to prepare for tea, and she rushed to answer it. Cor wore a Kingsglaive uniform of his own. His hair had shocks of gray through it, and he had a beard that Gladio was sure he had just been too busy to shave off rather than desired to have. It was a small comfort that his piercing icy blue eyes looked just the same as they always had.</p><p>“Marshal,” Gladio said as she saluted him.</p><p>“Gladio,” Cor said with a nod. “Good to see you.”</p><p>The older man lowered his gaze to her protruding abdomen, and she fought the urge to cover it with her arms.</p><p>“Who is the father?” he asked as he stepped past her into the apartment.</p><p>Gladio thought of the few conversations they had had over the years, and she frowned.</p><p>“That’s right. I never told you.”</p><p>“Told me what?”</p><p>“I’ve been dating Ignis.”</p><p>Cor quirked up an eyebrow at that, and Gladio chuckled.</p><p>“Yeah, it’s been a few years now. He’s apparently liked me since we were kids, and well, I don’t trust very many people as much as I do Ignis. It’s been nice, even if we don’t see each other very often.”</p><p>Gladio had no idea what made her say that, and she felt her face heat as he smirked at her.</p><p>“I made lunch for us,” Gladio rushed to say, “if you’re hungry.”</p><p>“I would appreciate it. I don’t think I’ve had anything substantial to eat in a long time.”</p><p>Cor followed Gladio into the tiny kitchen, and she handed him a sandwich, the best thing she could make with the few ingredients she had on hand.</p><p>“You look miserable,” Cor said just before he took a rather large bite of his sandwich.</p><p>“I’m not miserable.”</p><p>Cor gave her his cold stare, unconvinced. She sighed, and she rolled her eyes toward the floor.</p><p>“It doesn’t matter.”</p><p>“Iris didn’t tell me your plans over the phone,” Cor said. “What are your plans?”</p><p>“I have an appointment scheduled to take care of it.”</p><p>“As in aborting it?”</p><p>Gladio flinched at the word. She knew it was dumb, especially when she knew she was making the right choice, but she could not help the ache she felt swelling in her chest.</p><p>“Yeah,” she whispered, “that’s the plan.”</p><p>“And you’re not happy about it.”</p><p>“Sir, I have duties, so my desires don’t matter.”</p><p>“Hey, look at me.”</p><p>Gladio jumped when she felt a light tap on her arm, and she looked up at him.</p><p>It surprised her to see Cor sad, mouth down-turned and brow wrinkled with worry. Gladio had seen him sad after the King and his Shield had died, but it always hurt to see that look on such a stoic man, especially one who had devoted so much of his life to protecting others.</p><p>“You matter, Gladio,” Cor said, “to a lot of people, myself included, and we want to see you happy.”</p><p>“It’s my job to protect people,” Gladio said, voice stupidly thick with stupid emotions. “I can’t have a kid right now.”</p><p>“People are having kids, despite everything going on.”</p><p>“I’m not a civilian.”</p><p>“Soldiers are allowed to take time for themselves. If this pregnancy means a lot to you, there’s no reason you can’t take the time to—”</p><p>“I’ve thought about it a lot, Cor. I know this is the right thing to do.”</p><p>“The right thing to do is to be happy, Gladio. Your duties don’t mean shit if you’re miserable. There has to be something worth living for. I can’t tell you what that is. You have to figure that out yourself, but downplaying your own self worth for the sake of Noctis, the people of Lucis, or anyone else, that will not make you stronger.”</p><p>Gladio felt her throat tighten, and her eyes heated with tears. She tried to swallow the tightness away, but it would not let up.</p><p>“I’m not here to give you a lecture, believe it or not,” Cor continued. “Iris told me something troubled you, and I came here to see if I could get it out of you. I can’t tell you what to do. We are all struggling to stay prepared for Noctis’s return, but if he could speak to us, he’d tell us not to make any more sacrifices for his sake.”</p><p>They sat in tense silence for a moment, Gladio struggling to gather her thoughts well enough to respond.</p><p>“But what would I do Cor,” Gladio said, voice thick with emotion, “if Noctis returns while I’m pregnant? I wouldn’t be any use to him—”</p><p>“You’re a strong leader, Gladio,” Cor said. “You’ve been leading Hunters and soldiers on the field for the last five years, and that’s just as valuable as your duties as a Shield.”</p><p>“But I won’t be able to fight by Noctis’s side. What kind of Shield doesn’t lay down their life for their King?”</p><p>Cor gave her that sad smile again. He reached across the table, and he grasped her hand, feeling far warmer than she did.</p><p>“Noctis would want you to be happy,” he said. “We all want you to be happy. I can’t tell you what would get you there. All I can say is you have options, and you have plenty of people who would support you regardless of what you choose, including myself.”</p><p>Gladio’s chest tightened as she listened to him. She had grown up knowing only her duties. Following those duties had been her happiness, but now she was fighting in a world where her duty was stuck in the Crystal, doing who knows what in there. Fighting daemons and rescuing civilians was the logical thing to do while waiting for Noctis’s return, but the feeling of being lost was always there. Since the discovery of her pregnancy, the feeling had only gotten worse.</p><p>“Just think about it for a little while longer,” Cor said, and he drew back his hand without looking away from her. “Think about what you really want.”</p><p>Gladio nodded. Cor went back to eating his sandwich, and Gladio fought the torrent of tears that threatened to burst from her.</p>
<hr/><p>~<i>At 15 Weeks</i>~</p><p>Gladio startled when she heard Ignis come home. She laid in bed, where she had been spending the majority of her time even after the brief visit from Cor and Iris’s nagging, and she had fallen asleep before she could do any cleaning before he could come home—before he could see what a slob she had become.</p><p>Gladio scrambled out of bed, and she checked the small room for clothes she had left laying on the floor.</p><p>“Gladio?” Ignis called.</p><p>“Hey, Iggy! Be there in a sec!”</p><p>Gladio left the bedroom, and she found Ignis taking off his Kingsglaive jacket near the entrance. He turned to her as she approached him for a kiss on the cheek. It was strange feeling stubble when he usually preferred to keep himself clean-shaven, but he was working hard on decoding the ancient texts he’d been uncovering throughout Eos.</p><p>“Ah, Iris told me you were here,” Ignis said. “Forgive me for being late. I wanted to finish translating the ancient texts we found in Niflheim so I would be free to spend the day with you tomorrow.”</p><p>“Did you find out anything cool?”</p><p>“Something that helps fill in the blanks of Ardyn’s history. We already knew that the Crystal had rejected him before the founding of Insomnia, but now we know he was a healer of sorts, some kind of savior in the fight against the Scourge.”</p><p>“How does a healer become Ardyn the Accursed?”</p><p>“We’re not sure. There’s still a lot of missing information, but ideally, those missing pieces will help us in aiding Noctis upon his return.”</p><p>After Ignis placed his boots next to Gladio’s at the door, he wrapped his arms around Gladio, and he gave her a long kiss. It failed to have the comforting effect she knew he meant it to have, but she appreciated the attempt.</p><p>“Have you had supper yet?” Ignis asked, kneading the tense muscles on her back.</p><p>“No, I forgot to make it,” she said, slumping at the realization. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Ah, no matter. I’ve been wanting to try cooking something I haven’t made in a long while.”</p><p>“Cool. I’d love to try it.”</p><p>With one more peck to the lips, Ignis withdrew himself to go to the kitchen as he rolled up his sleeves.</p><p>“I was considering some fried skewers,” he said as he washed his hands. “We’ve plenty of ingredients left in the Armiger.”</p><p>“Hey, one of my favorites,” Gladio said, forcing a smile in hopes it would appear in her voice despite the tension in her body.</p><p>Watching Ignis work despite his disability did little to make the tension in Gladio’s body ease as an awkward silence fell between them. Helping him would get her mind off things, but she knew he would shoo her away, leaving her to dwell on her misery. Even the delicious smell of cooking bulette meat was not enough to curb the unease in her.</p><p>The skewer was delicious, and the dipping sauce was perfect. It made her eyes water as she recalled the good times they had had while on the road with Noctis.</p><p>“This is perfect, Iggy,” Gladio, and she hoped the mouthful of food was enough to disguise the lump forming in her throat.</p><p>“I’m pleased you think so.”</p><p>Gladio hated the awkward silence between them as they ate, especially as tears flowed down her cheeks. Over the last week, Cor’s words had been echoing in her head repeatedly, and that made the guilt build up in her body more and more. When she glanced up at Ignis, she caught him frowning, but he remained silent.</p><p>When Gladio realized she could no longer bear the tension, she set down her half-eaten skewers, and after a long sigh, she said:</p><p>“Iggy, we need to talk.”</p><p>Ignis stiffened, but he lowered his own skewers onto his plate.</p><p>“Listen,” Gladio rushed to say, “it’s something that’s been on my mind since I found out about the pregnancy.”</p><p>“Darling,” Ignis sighed, bowing his head like he knew where this was going.</p><p>“I want to keep them.”</p><p>“We have a duty to remain prepared for Noctis’s return.”</p><p>“I know that. I’ve had that stuff drilled into my head since I was a kid.”</p><p>“Then you’re fully aware of the importance of our positions.”</p><p>Gladio reached out and rested her hand over his on the table. It was so warm, soft because of his preference for wearing gloves in battle.</p><p>“I know it’s foolish and selfish for us to have a kid now,” she said, voice strong despite her emotions. “I know it’s the wrong time. I know I’ll get soft and slow, and it’ll take me forever to get back into proper shape. It’s the worst time for this. I know that. Still, I—”</p><p>Gladio expected him to cut into the conversation, but he sat in silence. The unfocused movement of his right eye was visible even under his visor, and he pressed his lips into a thin line. She took a deep breath before she continued:</p><p>“Still, I can’t help the feeling that maybe we won’t get another chance at this, Iggy. The daemons are growing stronger. Ardyn is so powerful that he could come out of Insomnia at any moment and off us if he wanted to. We don’t even know when the Astrals will spit Noctis out of the Crystal, and we don’t have any idea if we will even survive long enough to see that day.</p><p>“And it’s not just that,” Gladio added. “I have so many happy memories of my parents when they finally got pregnant again, and it had always troubled me just slightly that I would never get to experience that myself. There were so many things I thought for sure I wouldn’t get to have. Then, you confessed your feelings to me, and we got together. And it’s been wonderful. And we’ve created something beautiful together—after all the bullshit we’ve been through. I can’t just scrape that away, Iggy. It hurts so much to think about.”</p><p>A tear slipping down Ignis’s cheek startled Gladio. She had had no idea that the tear duct in his right eye even functioned, and she could not recall a time she had ever seen him cry. He grimaced, and he stood from the table, hands clenched at his side.</p><p>“I need to step out for a bit,” he said.</p><p>Gladio’s heart fell as she watched him walk back to the door to gather his jacket and lace up his boots, and tears blurred her vision as he shrugged on his jacket. She wanted to stop him, but she knew he hated letting others see him get emotional, even if they were close to him. Once the door shut, she breathed a shaky sigh, and she turned back to the food he had prepared to comfort her. Her appetite had slipped away from her.</p><p>Gladio rested her hand over her protruding belly, feeling its strange firmness. She had been avoiding touching her abdomen out of fear of growing too attached to something she was just going to give up, but now that she had made her feelings on the matter known, she wanted nothing more than the reassurance that the child was there.</p><p>She lifted her shirt so she could gaze down at her belly. For someone who had kept a flat, toned stomach throughout her life, it looked disturbingly huge, but it was also beautiful because it protected something precious to her.</p>
<hr/><p>Gladio rested in bed, cell phone sitting on her pillow as she waited to hear from anyone. It had been a few hours since Ignis had left. She had sent him a text a few moments ago hoping he would let her know he was all right, but he had not sent her any reply. After a while, she had gone to bed in hopes of sleeping off her worries, but instead, she had laid there and dwelled on her worries.</p><p>There was a sharp knock on the door, and Gladio climbed out of bed, heart thudding in her chest as she rushed to the door. She found Ignis standing there, holding an enormous bouquet of sylleblossoms. His hair was a mess, the gel having long lost its power from him running his hands through it, and his cheeks were splotchy. He thrust the bouquet toward her, sending its sweet fragrance into her nose, and he came down to one knee.</p><p>“Gladiolus,” he began, sounding breathless, “I apologize for being out so late, and I apologize again for worrying you by not answering your text while I was away. I needed a moment to think through my feelings before I said something foolish to you.”</p><p>Ignis had been raised differently from Gladio. Her father had taught her to never hold on to her feelings, and Ignis’s uncle had taught Ignis to be rational about everything, to keep calm even when his emotions were a crazy, incomprehensible mess. It sometimes lead him to walk away from an argument that she would have preferred to get out of the way as they were having it.</p><p>Ignis took a shuddering breath, and he lifted the bouquet higher upon realizing his arm had drooped. Gladio could only stare in surprise for what was happening in front of her. His voice shook as he continued:</p><p>“I am honored that you would have a child with me. It has been my dream to marry you after the sun returns, and expanding our family would be the greatest gift anyone could give up me. Through this darkness, it has not been my duties that have given me the strength to continue but you—you and the hope that the future will be better and safer than it had been in our youth.</p><p>“However, with that said, I must speak my own reservations about having a child now. My calling is to discover as much information about Ardyn and the Scourge as I can before Noctis’s return, and I can’t set these duties aside because the future of our country may very well depend on the information I find. It is with a heavy heart that I say that I could never be the father that our child would deserve, and I would not be the partner that you would deserve for raising a child.”</p><p>Ignis’s arm drooped again, and Gladio took the bouquet reflexively to ease the burden from him. It startled him, but he remained kneeling on one knee.</p><p>“How about we go inside and talk about all of this?” Gladio suggested.</p><p>“Right, of course.”</p><p>Ignis stood, and he adjusted his uniform as he stepped into the apartment. Gladio summoned a big camping mug from the Armiger, and that was, unfortunately, the only thing she had to display the beautiful blue sylleblossoms. She turned back to Ignis, finding him looking on the verge of tears.</p><p>“I understand how you feel, Iggy,” Gladio said, and she placed her hand onto her belly again. “I don’t plan on giving up helping Cor and Dave lead the Hunters and Kingsglaive, so I don’t think I’ll end up being a very good mother either. But I think we’ll be doing all right as long as we’re trying. That’s all any of us are really doing anyway: trying our damnedest to get through all of this.”</p><p>Ignis nodded then, the corner of his mouth turning up in a small smile. Gladio took a chance in sliding her arms around his waist, and he put his own around her, pressing her closer.</p><p>“I love you, Gladiolus,” Ignis whispered.</p><p>It occurred to her then that she had never said “I love you” to him before. Sometimes it had slipped out of him when he was especially tired, but she had always been afraid of saying it herself, afraid of ruining the moment when they already spent so little time together.</p><p>“I love you, too.”</p><p>Gladio made no comment as she noticed tears sliding down his cheek. She leaned forward to kiss him, a hopeful warmth spreading through her as they held each other.</p>
<hr/><p>~<i>At 35 Weeks</i>~</p><p>Gladio sighed at the flood of New Year’s messages she received at midnight. There were far too many of them. She replied to her sister’s, Holly’s, Dave’s, and Talcott’s, but everyone else was just going to deal with being deleted immediately. Ignis was probably busy, as he always was whenever he was outside of Lestallum, and Prompto was right next to her, head resting on her shoulder as he slept.</p><p>Most people had been congratulatory when she had announced her pregnancy both to Meldacio HQ and to the Kingsglaive, but many of those same people had been reluctant to allow her to take on any work, even if it would not put her in any immediate danger. At Cor’s insistence, they allowed her to look at plans, suggest strategies, and organize teams of people, but it had taken several weeks before anyone had been comfortable with it, including Gladio herself.</p><p>She had always preferred to be hands-on. Dictating from afar went against all of her instincts as a Shield, but her experiences at least remained valuable, allowed her to save a few lives, even if she could not shield them with her body if things went horribly wrong. No one complained about it—not to her face, at least.</p><p>Staying in Lestallum allowed her to see Ignis more often because she was never leaving just as he was arriving. He had even gotten to go to her doctor’s appointments, and she would always remember with fondness the way he had turned into a blubbering mess the first time he had gotten to hear their little boy’s heartbeat for the first time.</p><p>Gladio smiled, and she patted her protruding belly. She felt and saw a slight stretch next to her hand, and she poked at it.</p><p>“Hey, have a nice nap, baby?” she whispered.	</p><p>There was a lot less room for the little squirt to move around in her uterus, so she felt them move around less often than she used to. It was nice being able to sleep without waking to him kicking around like crazy, but it had at least been a sign that the baby was fine. Now she was back to worrying all day.</p><p>Gladio made a note of it on her phone for her next doctor’s appointment.</p><p>Prompto grumbled, and he sat upright as he stretched, joints cracking. His blond hair had faded to the color of withering flowers since the Endless Night had begun, and she missed seeing his freckles.</p><p>“Hey, sleepyhead,” Gladio said. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”</p><p>“Huh? Nah, I should probably be up, anyway. What time is it?”</p><p>“Midnight.”</p><p>“Oh, Happy New Year.”</p><p>“Happy New Year to you, too.”</p><p>“Have you heard anything from Iggy?”</p><p>“No, not yet.”</p><p>“He’s always busy.”</p><p>Gladio hummed, and she absently rubbed her stomach, willing her little boy to make more movements because they had not yet hit their goal for the day.</p><p>Prompto got up to check on Cid, who had been taking a nap in his bedroom. Cindy was out helping plan some kind of advanced lighting system. When she had gone on about it, her pregnant brain could not keep up with what she was saying, but she knew it was important stuff.</p><p>When Prompto re-emerged, he looked sad. The old man had been ill for a while, achy and slow-moving. Quitting smoking made him crankier than ever, too. It was hard to witness sometimes, especially when Cindy was around to give him her sad puppy eyes.</p><p>“Does he need anything?” Gladio asked.</p><p>“He’s still asleep,” Prompto said, shaking his head.</p><p>Gladio nodded, and she heaved herself from the couch.</p><p>“Hey, let’s go to the market really quick,” she said. “I can make dinner for us when we get back.”</p><p>“Are you sure we should leave him alone?”</p><p>“His mind hasn’t gone yet. Besides, we won’t be gone too long. He should still be asleep by the time we come back.”</p><p>Prompto did not look convinced it would be a good idea, but he nodded. He gave her a forced smile as he offered her his arm, and they left the Sophiar apartment together. They passed a few people as they walked, and they each saluted each other.</p><p>“Have you guys thought of a name for the baby yet?” Prompto asked.</p><p>“We’ve talked about it, but we haven’t settled on one. Iggy wants to name him after the sun. I get it, but it just feels weird to me. We haven’t even seen the sun in so long.”</p><p>Prompto only hummed, giving a solemn nod. He cast his gaze upward, where the Scourge blocked the sky entirely. It made walks around town just as depressing as sitting around a house alone, but at least she had someone to walk around with her this time.</p><p>They reached the market, where there were already a few other people shopping around and trading off some goods. She traded a bracelet she had found months ago for some food for dinner.</p><p>The howls of havocfangs cut through the sounds of people bustling about, and they both paused. It was common enough to hear the cries of animals, especially when they huddled under the daemon-repelling lights for safety, but they had sounded close. Prompto stepped in front of Gladio, summoning his favorite pistols with a flash of blue light.</p><p>Someone made an announcement over speakers spread throughout the city that all civilians needed to get inside for their safety because of a breach in the east wall. Hunters were on their way to take care of the beasts.</p><p>“Everyone stay calm and get inside!” Gladio called.</p><p>Gladio did not hesitate to throw their food into the Armiger so she was less burdened as she ran toward a building, where a man had graciously opened up his home for the safety of others. Prompto’s guns went off. People screamed, and Gladio spun toward the sound, finding entirely too many havocfangs rushing into the marketplace through the alley. She summoned her shield out of instinct, even as she backed away toward safety.</p><p>A shop owner pulled out a rifle from under the stall, and she helped Prompto take care of the shaggy dog-like beasts rushing about the area. There were still a lot of them, more than Gladio was sure they had ever run into while on the road with Noctis.</p><p>A sharp scream drew Gladio’s attention, and she saw a little girl fall on the ground. She threw her arms over her face as a havocfang lunged for her, but a bullet splattered its brains while knocking it to the side. Holding up her shield, Gladio ran to the little girl, who was already climbing to her feet.</p><p>“Come on, kid!” she called to the girl, holding out one hand to her. “Come this way!”</p><p>The little girl ran to her, outstretching her hands and grasping onto her hand. Tears streaked the poor thing's face. They jogged toward the house Gladio had been aiming for earlier, and a man was standing outside, frantically waving them over while shouting at them. He held a bat in one hand.</p><p>Some havocfangs ran out of another alley. The little girl let out ear-piercing shrieks as she ran ahead of Gladio, arms outstretched toward the man. She could see people huddled around a window, watching everything unfold, and she wished she was one of them as she felt her stomach ache from the panic.</p><p>There was a snarl from too close to her. Gladio turned her shield in its general direction, but the beast was already leaping in the air toward her, snarling. The man shouted, but the creature’s paws had already landed on her shield, knocking her backward with its momentum. Blood pounded in her ears as she fell, feeling it land on her abdomen despite her efforts to hold it off her.</p><p>Gladio stared at the beast as it lunged toward her face. Warm saliva dripped onto her skin as it gave her a terrifying view of its teeth—</p><p>A bat collided with its head, and it flew off her with a whimper. There was shouting, muffled by the blood pounding in her ears. Someone leaned over her, and she could not register their words as her body wracked with pain. Arms slid underneath her, and they lifted her up, half dragging her inside the safety of the house.</p><p>Gladio had carried her baby for thirty-five weeks, and a havocfang had come along and destroyed all of that hope she had felt for it in a mere second.</p><p>Someone guided her into a chair, and she caught some of their words, something about her being all right. Gladio shook her head, and she clutched at her stomach. Another intense pain wracked her body, and she doubled over with it.</p><p>“Lady Amicitia?” a man called to her. “Lady Amicitia?”</p><p>“My baby,” she sobbed. “I’ll lose my baby.”</p><p>There was a lot of cursing from someone, but the man rested a hand on her shoulder.</p><p>“Help is coming,” he promised. “They’ll know what to do, all right? Don’t lose hope!”</p><p>Her vision was blurry with her tears, and she concentrated on the pains in her abdomen. She was vaguely aware of the hands on her arms and shoulders, but it was not until she heard the sharp cries of Prompto calling to her she focused on anything outside of her own body.</p><p>“Gladio, we’ve got help coming!”</p><p>The blond placed his hands on her shoulders. His lavender eyes were red-rimmed and watery as he looked her over. Dave Auburnbrie rushed up to Gladio, Prompto stepping aside to give him room. He looked twice as old as she remembered him looking a few days ago.</p><p>“Gladio, we’ve got to get you to a doctor, all right?” Dave said. “Are you okay to move?”</p><p>After a few seconds of blinking at them in terror, Dave and Prompto looked at each other, and they worked together to carry her out of the house, Prompto’s lower height making her lopsided as they held her. She squeezed their shoulders as she continued to feel intense pain in her abdomen.</p><p>“Take deep breaths, Gladio,” Prompto said. “We’ll be at the hospital in no time, okay?”</p><p>Gladio was fully aware that the hospital was only a few blocks away, but it felt like an eternity had passed when it finally came into view. She felt hot fluids rush between her legs, and her already broken heart shattered further.</p><p>“No, this can’t be happening,” Gladio wailed, and she dug her fingers into their shoulders as she struggled to press her legs closed.</p><p>“We’re here, okay?” Prompto said, breathless from running while carrying someone much heavier than him.</p><p>Nurses rushed out of the hospital with a wheelchair, and Dave and Prompto carefully placed her in it. One of them smiled at her as they checked her over, and she felt a strong urge to kick someone.</p><p>“How far along are you?” the nurse asked.</p><p>“She’s 35 weeks,” Prompto answered for her, sounding just as panicked as Gladio felt. “She got hit while havocfangs were running around, and her water broke—”</p><p>“All right, we’ll check on the baby,” the nurse said, “and we’ll see what to do from there.”</p><p>“Wait! Should I come with—”</p><p>“Yes!” Gladio shouted, and she would fight anyone who contradicted her just because he wasn’t family or the father.</p><p>Prompto kept pace right next to the wheelchair as they all rushed inside, and he rested a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.</p><p>“I’ll call Iris and Scientia!” Dave called.</p><p>“Thanks, man!” Prompto called back, and he lowered his voice when he turned back to Gladio. “Everything’s going to be fine, okay?”</p><p>Gladio wanted to point out he had no way of knowing that, but she doubled over with a contraction before she could say anything.</p><p>The nurses took her to the maternity ward, where there was at least one other woman in the throes of birth already, and they helped her up onto a maternity bed. Prompto went to the side and grabbed her hand, holding it both of his. Neither of the nurses waited for a doctor to arrive before bringing out an ultrasound machine. One ran out of the room to look for a doctor while the other squirted cold lubricant on Gladio’s belly.</p><p>When they could hear the thumping of her son’s heart, Gladio released a breath she had not realized she had been holding, and she sagged against the bed, feeling all the amniotic fluid and sweat soaking her clothes.</p><p>“They seem to be fine, Mama,” the nurse said, and the smile on her face made Gladio less angry than it had before. “I should also tell you that premature babies at 35 weeks have a ninety-nine percent chance of survival, so everything’s looking good.”</p><p>“Oh, thank the Six,” Gladio gasped. </p><p>“All right. Let’s get you out of these pants so we can do our job.”</p>
<hr/><p>Much of the labor was a blur to Gladio. All she remembered was going through intense pain, and then her hormone-addled brain telling her the doctors were evil for whisking her newborn baby away when they were just trying to keep the poor thing alive. Prompto had tried his best to comfort her, wrapping his arms around her while she sobbed, but she wanted her baby—or at least Ignis by her side.</p><p>Gladio had stopped feeling much of anything by the time a nurse came into the room holding a bouquet of sylleblossoms from Dave. It was a kind gesture, one she would have never expected from him, but they just reminded her that Ignis had been out of touch with everyone for a while.</p><p>“I know you want your baby,” the nurse said as she adjusted the blankets around Gladio, “but how are you feeling right now? Are you in any more pain? Dizzy? Anything strange?”</p><p>The urge to punch someone was strong again, but she did not think that was the answer the nurse was looking for. She could only shake her head, hormone-induced tears streaming uncontrollably down her face, and the nurse patted her hand.</p><p>“I’ll see how the baby is doing, okay?”</p><p>The nurse left the room, and Gladio turned her gaze to the sylleblossoms. They were beautiful, just like the woman who seemed to keep them alive from a different plane, making them the only inedible flower that anyone really saw these days. It was no mystery why Dave had chosen those specific flowers, but they reminded of the one person she would have liked to have with her.</p><p>When the door next opened, it was a messy-headed Iris who came into the room, amber eyes wide with worry. Gladio felt her heart leap in her chest, and she held out her arms as Iris rushed to her.</p><p>“Gladdy, I got here as soon as I could,” Iris said as she wrapped her older and larger sister in her arms. “I’m so sorry.”</p><p>“The doc said there’s a high chance he’ll live,” Gladio said to reassure herself as much as her sister, “so everything should turn out okay.”</p><p>“It’ll be scary getting there, isn’t it?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>Iris was running her fingers through Gladio’s hair to fix it when the nurse returned with a wheelchair. Her eyebrows raised in surprise at seeing Iris, but she said nothing about it. She instead turned to Gladio with that infuriating smile and said:</p><p>“Your baby is ready to see you,” she said. “Ready to take a look?”</p><p>Iris could not come with her for the time being, but her heart fluttered in her chest with excitement at the news that she would finally get to see her darling boy. The two ladies helped her into the wheelchair, and then the nurse took her through the maternity ward and to the nursery. There was an incubator in the middle of the room that she recognized from movies, and there her little boy was waiting for her.</p><p>He was tiny and thin, and he had a little tube up his nose. There was a tuft of hair on his little head, and she knew she would summon one of Ignis’s daggers if the nurse did not let her touch it. The doctor had stuck some wires on him to monitor his heart.</p><p>The doctor said:</p><p>“Your boy is having a little trouble breathing, but he’s doing well in blood production. His suckling reflexes are weak, but with some help, he’ll take to feeding on his own well. He’s as healthy as we can expect him to be under the circumstances.”</p><p>“When can I touch him?” Gladio asked.</p><p>The nurse opened the little doors on the side of the incubator, and Gladio wasted no time in reaching through. She placed one trembling hand on his little tummy and the other by his head to stroke his hair—his slightly goopy hair. Relief washed through her, and her light tears turned into full-on sobbing.</p><p>Gladio longed to pick him up and hold him to her, but the rational part of herself was awake enough to remind her she should be grateful that he was receiving much-needed help after everything he had been through.</p>
<hr/><p>Breast pumps felt weird. If it wasn’t the only way to feed her baby at the moment, Gladio might have chosen to never use one again. At least Iris had fallen asleep on the cot beside the maternity bed. She had looked at Gladio with horror when she had realized the little machine just vacuumed the milk out of her, and Gladio appreciated operating without an audience.</p><p>Gladio’s phone buzzed on the table, hitting the glass vase of sylleblossoms with a <i>tink</i>, and she turned off the pump before she reached over to take it. When she saw the name on the screen, her heart picked up speed, and she eagerly pressed the phone to her ear.</p><p>“Iggy?” she gasped, not-so-hormone-induced tears warming her eyes.</p><p>“Darling,” Ignis said, breathless, “I’m so sorry I missed everyone’s calls.”</p><p>“It’s okay. Everything’s turned out relatively well.”</p><p>“What happened?”</p><p>Gladio told him everything that had happened, trying and failing to hold back sobs as she relived the event.</p><p>“Oh, no,” Ignis gasped.</p><p>“I’m sorry.”</p><p>“You have nothing to apologize for, my love. I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I <i>should</i> have been there.”</p><p>“Don’t beat yourself up over it too much. You planned on being here for the birth. It’s not your fault it happened early.”</p><p>“Still, I would have liked to have been there.”</p><p>“Just worry about getting here safely. My heart couldn’t take it if you got hurt.”</p><p>“Traveling is merely routine for us now. I’ve no intention of being reckless.”</p><p>“When are you going to be here?”</p><p>“Talcott and I are packing our things. We should be there within a week.”</p><p>Gladio’s heart fell at that. She had been thinking about having him at her side all this time, and she was going to have to wait even longer. They fell into silence, and Gladio could hear some shuffling from his end of the call. A car door slammed closed.</p><p>“I should let you go,” Gladio said.</p><p>“I can speak to you for as long as you need to.”</p><p>“Well, I have to take care of some baby stuff, but I’ll definitely call you later.”</p><p>“All right, darling. Whatever you need to do. I have my phone with me now, and it will stay with me until I arrive.”</p><p>“Thanks. I love you.”</p><p>“And I love you.”</p><p>Gladio ended the call with Ignis. She sighed, feeling much better now that she knew he was fine, and she looked over at Iris, who remained asleep even after using the breast pump and speaking to Ignis. Her hair stuck to her lips and Gladio fought the urge to brush it away out of fear of waking her. Iris had been the only thing standing between her and insanity during everything that had been happening, and she deserved her rest.</p><p>Gladio slid off the bed onto unsteady legs. She gathered her breast pump and her phone, and she carried them with her to tell her son that his father was coming as soon as he could.</p>
<hr/><p>“Papa promised he should be here today,” Gladio whispered to the unnamed little boy, who looked at her with unfocused eyes.</p><p>He was still a tiny thing, and the doctor still liked to keep him in the little incubator because he had not yet built up an ideal amount of fat to help him regulate the temperature of his fragile little body. Gladio still got to hold him for practically as long as she wanted now because he was doing better, breathing correctly and feeding directly from her rather than a little tube, but that was only when she could visit him at the hospital.</p><p> “And the doctor said you’re doing a lot better,” Gladio continued, rubbing the silky soft tuft of hair on his little head. “You might even get to leave when you’ve gained a little more weight, and Mama will get to have you around all the time. Mama will be very happy when she doesn’t have to leave you here anymore.”</p><p>Gladio kissed his little head, and the little boy grumbled at the slight jostling before closing his little eyes. She placed him back inside the incubator where he could stay warm during his nap. It always hurt to place him inside it when she had a perfectly nice bassinet waiting for him at home.</p><p>There was a knock on the door, and Gladio turned to find Iris poking her head into the room.</p><p>“Is everything all right in here?” the younger Amicitia asked.</p><p>“Yeah, what’s up?”</p><p>“I have a nice surprise for you.”</p><p>Iris grinned as she opened the door further, revealing a disheveled—but clean—Ignis Scientia standing behind her. Gladio gasped, feeling a flutter in her chest. She pushed herself onto wobbly legs, and Iris gave Ignis gentle guidance toward Gladio. He pressed her tightly to himself as she threw her arms around him.</p><p>“Iggy,” Gladio said, voice thick with impending sobs. “Oh, we missed you so much.”</p><p>“And I missed you.”</p><p>Ignis kissed her, and she returned it with eagerness, pulling him closer. When she pulled away, she was breathless as she said:</p><p>“And our little boy is over here.”</p><p>Gladio guided Ignis to the incubator, and she helped him find the holes in the side that would let him touch their tiny son. His touch was gentle as he felt his tummy, his fingers and toes, and finally his head, and his face melted into one of joy and relief.</p><p>“He’s beautiful,” Ignis said, incredulous.</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>Gladio kept a short distance away to avoid intruding on his special moment with his son.</p><p>When Ignis spent too much time trying to map his face with his fingers, the baby whined, and Ignis chuckled. He went back to rubbing his soft hair.</p><p>“Pardon me,” he said.</p><p>“I wore him out already,” Gladio said. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Rather easy to do with infants. I’m just grateful he’s doing well.”</p><p>“The doctor said he should be able to go home in a few days because he’s been gaining weight.”</p><p>“Ah, that’s a relief to hear.”</p><p>Ignis continued to feel their son’s tiny fingers while he slept. Gladio wondered if she should step out of the room, having already told him everything he needed to know. She had spent so much more time with him already, and it was only fair to give him some time.</p><p>“Have you considered a name for him yet?” Ignis asked.</p><p>Gladio chuckled.</p><p>“While I’ve been worried I might not see him again? No, I honestly can’t say I’ve been thinking about names a lot.”</p><p>“Then, maybe we should discuss that now.”</p><p>While keeping one hand feeling the little fingers, Ignis turned toward Gladio, and he held out a hand to her. She took it, and he pulled her closer until she sat in his lap. It was a relief to be off her feet.</p><p>“What have you been thinking?” Gladio asked.</p><p>“You were hesitant to name him after the sun,” Ignis reminded her, “so I’ve taken some time considering other names. I considered naming him after Noctis, but I feel that might put a tad too much pressure on him.”</p><p>“Well, we wouldn’t have to name him ‘Noctis,’ exactly. There are a lot of names that mean ‘night,’ aren’t there?”</p><p>“A few, sure, but I had something different in mind.”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>“‘Strength.’ You are one of the strongest women I’ve ever met, and our son is strong for surviving his own ordeal so soon.”</p><p>Ignis looked at their little boy in the incubator again, feeling his tummy again.</p><p>“Something like Viribus or Virtus, if we want to give him a noble’s name.”</p><p>“‘Nobility’ doesn’t have much meaning these days.”</p><p>“No, of course not, but I like consistency.”</p><p>Gladio pursed her lips as she thought about it.</p><p>“Maybe Virtus. Seems easier to say.”</p><p>“So you like it?”</p><p>“Better than <i>Helianthus</i>. Amicitia-Scientia is already a long-ass name.”</p><p>Ignis chuckled. He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her neck—a gesture done because he could not see her face rather than to be a sexual one.</p><p>“I was merely trying to honor you and the celestial body most important to humanity’s survival.”</p><p>“Take it from someone with a long-ass name: he would have hated us when he started learning to spell that.”</p><p>“Of course. My apologies.”</p><p>A nurse would come along later while they are sitting silently in the room, enjoying the moment to themselves. Ignis had wrapped both of his hands around Gladio to let his son have a proper rest, and Gladio sat with her head resting on his shoulder, listening to his silent breaths. She had been nearly asleep when she had heard someone step into the room.</p><p>Visiting hours were over so they had to leave. After a week since her son—little Virtus—had been born, she had yet to get used to leaving him in the hospital, feeling a painful tightness in her chest every time, but another part of her family had returned to her, making the walk home a little less lonely.</p>
<hr/><p>-<b>Eight Years After the Fall</b>-</p><p>“Not bad, Amicitia,” Libertus said, clapping Gladio on the back while she was taking a sip of her water.</p><p>“Thanks,” Gladio said in between coughing and spluttering.</p><p>Gladio might have spent the last two years sitting behind a desk and breastfeeding her son, but she had gotten into shape as soon as the doctor had given her the okay. Now that Vivi was on solid foods, she wanted to train to make sure she could fight alongside the other Hunters and soldiers whenever Noctis finally returned.</p><p>In her first sparring session against a ‘Glaive, Gladio had surprised herself with how well she had done, even if she was not nearly as quick or strong as she used to be. All of her muscles burned from the exertion, but it was a good feeling, one that reminded her of all the times she had sparred against her dad.</p><p>“Just a few more months of training and you might get back to how you used to be,” Libertus continued.</p><p>Gladio had never met Libertus before Niflheim had destroyed Insomnia. Like many of the Kingsglaive back then he had been tired of fighting a losing war under who they had perceived as a weak king, but the moment he had realized there was a greater threat to Eos than the Empire, he had put all of that aside to help as many people as he could. Cor considered him a valuable ally now, one who spent more time on the field than even he did these days.</p><p>“Yeah, I hope so,” Gladio said. “I wouldn’t trade having my son for anything in the world, but it feels great to get back into fighting.”</p><p>Libertus’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. Mentioning Virtus to him always made him do that without fail. It probably reminded him of his own family.</p><p>“Take a short break after this,” he reminded her. “You don’t want to overwork yourself when you’ve made it this far.”</p><p>“Yes, sir,” Gladio said, even though she was technically in a higher position than him.</p><p>With another clap on her shoulder, Libertus turned away to shout at some younger recruits. The ‘Glaive she had sparred with said goodbye to her as well before leaving for the changing rooms. Gladio sat on a bench for a while, watching the recruits struggle to keep up with the demands of their trainers, and she felt her lips stretch into a smile as she recalled her own struggles as a kid.</p><p>“Gladio!”</p><p>She turned to find Iris jogging across the gym toward her, a two-year-old Virtus perched on her hip. Iris grinned widely at her older sister.</p><p>“Hey! I heard you did great today. It’s a shame I missed it.”</p><p>“Yeah, I got my ass handed to me, but I stayed on my feet longer than I expected.”</p><p>“You’ll be back to being better than everyone else in no time. Don’t you worry.”</p><p>Virtus held out his hands to Gladio, and she stood to take him from Iris.</p><p>“Hey, Vivi. I hope you were good for auntie Iris?”</p><p>The toddler grumbled into her shoulder, rubbing his big green eyes.</p><p>“I was just playing with him,” Iris explained. “You can thank me for wearing him out later.”</p><p>Gladio chuckled, and she kissed her younger sister on the cheek.</p><p>“Thanks for watching him for me.”</p><p>“It’s no problem. I enjoy hanging out with my nephew every once in a while, too.”</p><p>Gladio followed Iris out of the gym, and she found Ignis standing near the entrance, head tilting toward them when he heard them talking. She couldn’t help the slow grin on her face as she ran to him, and he wrapped his arms around both of them, kissing each of them.</p><p>“Iggy, I didn’t know you would be around today,” Gladio said, laughing as Virtus reached for his Papa.”</p><p>“I heard about your sparring match, and I took a little detour. People have told me you did well.”</p><p>“I still have a long way to go, but yeah, I did better than I thought I would.”</p><p>“I’ll see you two later,” Iris said, and she gave everyone a kiss on the cheek before she left the gym.</p><p>“Cindy’s watching over Cid tonight,” Gladio said as they walked arm in arm toward Gladio’s apartment, “so we can just go home and tuck our sleepy boy into bed.”</p><p>Virtus had already dozed off on Ignis’s shoulder, and Ignis pressed a kiss to his dark hair. </p><p>“An evening mostly to ourselves, then?”</p><p>“Mm-hmm.”</p><p>They made it to Gladio’s apartment, and the scent of pine struck Gladio’s nose, making her frown because she had not even realized she had had anything that smelled nice. A quick look around the open-plan room showed candles sitting on the kitchen table. Gladio quirked an eyebrow at Ignis, but he focused on the sleepy boy in his arms.</p><p>After they took off their boots, they went into the bedroom to tuck Virtus in bed.</p><p>As soon as they closed the bedroom door, Ignis pulled Gladio into an embrace, and he kissed her. He left her breathless when he pulled away.</p><p>“Darling, I’ve missed you,” he said.</p><p>“I’ve missed you, too.”</p><p>Gladio leaned in for another kiss, and she drew away to ask:</p><p>“I noticed the candles on the kitchen table.”</p><p>“Ah, yes, I hoarded them away for a special occasion. I hope you like the scent.”</p><p>Gladio had told him a handful of times that the scent reminded her of her father, but she was afraid that mentioning that might have killed his romantic mood.</p><p>“I also brought along something else for you,” Ignis added, and he summoned two very familiar things from the Armiger.</p><p>“Cup Noodles?” Gladio gasped, and she took one from him, finding it was a roasted chickatrice variety.</p><p>Ignis chuckled as he took the cup back from her. He took them to the kitchen, and he dug through the drawers to find the utensils for whatever he had planned.</p><p>“I was hoping to dress them with something special tonight.”</p><p>“How long have you had these, Iggy?” Gladio asked as she followed him into the kitchen.</p><p>“A long while, and it’s not part of your ‘stash,’ I assure you.”</p><p>Gladio filled the electric water kettle while Ignis prepared the behemoth meat, which Gladio had not even realized had been hiding in the Armiger for all these years. The smell brought back memories of the road trip eight years ago, and she was happy to realize that it was not cold sadness that rushed through her but the warmth of nostalgia. She was finally learning not to let the present taint the beauty of the past.</p><p>Once the instant ramen were rehydrated and dressed, they sat at the kitchen for an unromantic date that was probably the most romantic date either of them had ever had the chance to enjoy.</p><p>“I brought something you’ll appreciate,” Ignis said as he summoned two cups from the Armiger and a glass bottle full of a dark liquid.</p><p>“Whiskey?” Gladio observed, raising an eyebrow.</p><p>“Virtus is weaned now, so I thought we’d enjoy a small drink if you’re up for it.”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s been forever since I’ve had a <i>good</i> drink.”</p><p>“I found it when I was helping Cor in Insomnia,” Ignis said. “It surprised me to find that it was still good.”</p><p>Ignis poured them both a criminally low amount of alcohol before sending the bottle back into the Armiger, but she knew better than to ask for more when they had a two-year-old sleeping in the other room. Gladio brought it to her nose. The pine candle was far stronger, but there was a hint of the alcohol and notes of honey.</p><p>“What shall we toast to?” Ignis asked, holding out his glass.</p><p>“Ourselves,” Gladio said without hesitation. “For working as hard as we have through this shit.”</p><p>Ignis smiled at that, and they clinked glasses before taking a sip. It was nice and smooth, despite it being trapped in Insomnia, which was an absurdly hot place compared to the rest of Eos. Satisfied with the drink, Gladio tucked into the “fancified” instant ramen, and she found her eyes rolling into the back of her head with the magnificent flavor.</p><p>“Damn, Iggy,” she said. “This is <i>better</i> than that last time you made this.”</p><p>“I think I’ve outdone myself.”</p><p>“Do we still have behemoth meat left? Vivi needs to try this.”</p><p>“I’ve plenty of ideas to serve us over the next couple of days. He shan’t be without good food.”</p><p>“He likes a lot of the healthy stuff so far, luckily.”</p><p>A sad smile darkened Ignis’s face.</p><p>“I apologize for missing out on so much of our boy’s life,” he said. “There’s so much of his important milestones. Even Iris has seen more of him, and she’s not under obligations to help us.”</p><p>Gladio paused in scarfing down the noodles. There had been plenty of times when she had felt like a single mother, and on days when Virtus had been fussy, she would have a strong urge to call Ignis and cuss him out. Still, she had gone into motherhood knowing that Ignis was doing something for the benefit of the world, and he tried so hard to be there for her when he could.</p><p>Gladio placed her hand on his arm, and she gave it a gentle squeeze as she leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek.</p><p>“You’re trying your best, Iggy,” she said, “and that’s what counts.”</p><p>Ignis only hummed in response, looking unconvinced, but she knew his tendency toward overachievement. It was probably killing him to not know how to divide his time better—or that he had yet to find anything useful in fighting against Ardyn.</p><p>“Besides, when Noctis returns and gives us back the Sun,” she added, “you’ll have the rest of your life to make up for it.”</p><p>That made him smile. He placed his hand over hers on his arm, and he nodded.</p><p>“If only he’d stop keeping us waiting,” Gladio sighed, and she tucked back into her noodles.</p><p>“Indeed.”</p><p>They ate in comfortable silence, listening to the gentle sounds of the music they had put on for Virtus. After a moment, Ignis cleared his throat, and he set aside his chopsticks before reaching out to her. Gladio set aside her own chopsticks, and she grabbed his hand.</p><p>“Darling,” Ignis began, “we’ve known each other since we were children, brought together to aid and protect a strange little prince. When I finally confessed my feelings to you, I thought for sure that you would give me a polite rejection, but instead, you gave us a chance. Just a few years later, you gave me the precious gift of a child.”</p><p>Ignis’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he struggled to hold back emotion, and Gladio gave his hand a gentle squeeze, which he returned.</p><p>“While I have not been the boyfriend or the father that you both deserve,” Ignis continued, “you have been exceptionally patient with me, and you’ve tried so hard to keep me included in Virtus’s life when most people wouldn’t have tried so hard. The gratitude I feel for that is beyond description, and I wholeheartedly look forward to the day when I get to make it all up to you.”</p><p>“Iggy—”</p><p>“No, no, darling,” Ignis interrupted. “You always say it’s no trouble at all, but I know it’s exhausting. I know you’ve been working so hard despite all the anxiety you feel regarding your duties, and I plan to do something special for Iris for taking the supportive role that should have been mine.</p><p>“Still, after all this, I must ask you a question that comes from a purely selfish place.”</p><p>Ignis dug into his pants pocket, and Gladio’s heart stuttered when she realized it was a <i>ring</i> box. She felt her mouth slacken in surprise, and she snapped it shut despite Ignis being unable to see her look stupid.</p><p>“Iggy,” she gasped.</p><p>Ignis drew in a deep breath as he kneeled on one knee, and he held up the ring box to her, showing off a ring with dark chunks of what looked like exhausted meteorite shards embedded into the center in a swirl pattern.</p><p>“I, Ignis Scientia, humbly ask you, Gladiolus Amicitia, for your hand in marriage. We have spent the last seven years of the Endless Night struggling between our duties and our relationship, and although you deserve a far better man at your side, I can think of no one else in this world I would rather spend the rest of my life with.</p><p>“Gladio, will you marry me?”</p><p>She stared at the ring, eyes blinking rapidly as she felt her eyes warm with tears. Somehow, after seven years of dating, Gladio had not expected him to pop that question until after Noctis finally returned, and she had considered doing it herself if he took too long after.</p><p>“Marriage is a large step I know we’ve never discussed,” Ignis said without lowering his hand holding the ring box, “and perhaps asking for marriage is rather presumptuous of me. Still, I could think of no better way to express my gratitude toward you. Should you require more time—”</p><p>Gladio’s answer burst out of her much like it had when her father had asked her to join the Crownsguard to train as a Shield:</p><p>“Yes!”</p><p>She threw her arms around him, and she knocked him off-balance, making him fall on his rear as she forced herself onto his lap. He chuckled as she peppered his face with kisses.</p><p>“I think this is the part where I’m supposed to place the ring on your finger,” Ignis said.</p><p>Gladio withdrew with a giggle, one that made her sound more like a teenager than a battle-hardened soldier and mother, and she placed her hand on his chest to make it easier for him to find as she withdrew.</p><p>“Sorry,” she said, giggling.</p><p>Ignis took the ring out of the box, and he slipped it on her ring finger. She was glad it fit her finger just right because her knuckles had been bigger for a while during and after her pregnancy.</p><p>“It’s beautiful,” Gladio said.</p><p>“I’ll have to take your word on that, I’m afraid.”</p><p>“How the hell did you get a hold of a ring?”</p><p>“Our favorite ex-journalist.”</p><p>“Ah, Dino. I don’t see him too much.”</p><p>“Lucky you.”</p><p>Gladio chuckled, recalling how the strange man had tasked them with going all over Lucis to find him precious gems that he could use for his hobby of jewelry-making.</p><p>“I have just one more thing we should discuss,” Ignis asked.</p><p>“What’s up?”</p><p>Ignis did not answer immediately. He searched for her hand, and he interlaced their fingers. Then he leaned up to kiss her on the cheek.</p><p>“I was thinking we could have Noctis officiate the wedding upon his return.”</p><p>“Can he do that?”</p><p>“Now that he’s technically a king, yes, he can, not that we’re bound to the same laws as before.”</p><p>“True.”</p><p>“How do you feel about it, darling?”</p><p>“It would be nice, and I think he’d love to.”</p><p>“I think so, too.”</p><p>“I’m not waiting another eight years to get married. If he’s not back in a few years, I think we should have Cor do it.”</p><p>Ignis smiled and nodded at that. He leaned in for another kiss, and she met his lip with hers.</p>
<hr/><p>-<b>Ten Years After the Fall</b>-</p><p>Losing Galdin Quay as an outpost had been devastating. They had been struggling to defend the island of Angelgard from the hoard of daemons every day for ten years, and the nearest outpost to the island had slipped from their fingers so easily, costing them the lives of some dear friends. Bahamut had requested them to protect the island, and while it was safe, they were one step closer to failing that mission.</p><p>“We’ve taken back many outposts over the years,” said Cor over the phone. “There’s no need to lose hope now.”</p><p>Gladio sighed. She was running her hands through the thick curls of her four-year-old son, who had fallen asleep against her side in their small caravan in Hammerhead.</p><p>“And we’ve never lost Hammerhead,” Cor added, “or this place in Insomnia since we’ve established it. That’s pretty damn important, too.”</p><p>“Yeah, you’re right,” Gladio said. “I just feel guilty about it.”</p><p>“Don’t feel guilty. We’re all struggling to do our best here, and you’ve done a hell of a lot of good out here. Everyone tells me you’re stronger than ever, too. Be proud of that.”</p><p>“I am, sir, honestly.”</p><p>“Good, now, let us both get some sleep. I’m old and tired.”</p><p>Gladio knew that Cor was just joking, but with Cid’s health taking a sharp downturn recently, she hated the reminder that Cor Leonis was also getting up there in age, even if he had taken better care of himself than Cid had.</p><p>“You know I love you, right?” Gladio said before he hung up on her.</p><p>“Yeah, I know.”</p><p>Cor ended the call without a “goodbye,” and Gladio shook her head. She looked down at Virtus. It had killed her to bring him with her outside of Lestallum, but Virtus had been begging to go on a car ride and see Ignis, whose duties had taken him to Leide. There was no doubt in her mind that everyone she had traveled with would let nothing happen to him, but worry for him was just part of who she was at this point.</p><p>Gladio leaned down to kiss the sleeping boy, and then she eased him onto the caravan bed. He grumbled, but mostly, he remained asleep. She pulled a blanket over him, and she tip-toed over to a chair so she could watch over him while she waited for Ignis, who had promised he was not too far from Hammerhead, although a little busy.</p><p>It was just as Gladio felt herself about to drift off when her cell phone went off again, and she felt panic in her heart when she saw “Talcott” on the screen.</p><p>“Hello?”</p><p>“Hey, uh, you’re not going to believe this,” the young man said, “but I just found His Majesty.”</p>
<hr/><p>Gladio could count on one hand all the times she could recall Noctis’s retinue all in the same place together during the Endless Night, and she wondered if that would disappoint Noctis, not that it was important. Their long lost King of Kings had finally returned to Lucis, and somehow it was Talcott who had gotten to see him first.</p><p>“Do you think it’s really him?” Ignis said as he held Gladio’s hand with a death grip.</p><p>“It doesn’t feel real, does it?” Gladio breathed.</p><p>“I wonder if he still looks the same,” Prompto said.</p><p>The blond man had taken out his camera, which Gladio solemnly realized he had not used very often over the last decade, and he was flipping through pictures he had taken when everyone had been a lot happier. The three of them looked nothing like they had during those days, except perhaps Ignis, whose only change was his hair done up in a proper pompadour. Gladio’s hair was long and tamed into a long braid, and she also looked like she had aged far more than either of the two men. Prompto had grown facial hair on his chin, and his eyes looked so tired, although he was as happy and perky as ever.</p><p>“Talcott didn’t say anything about what he looked like,” Gladio said.</p><p>“Probably just as freaked out as we are that he’s back,” Prompto laughed.</p><p>They stood in silence, bodies keyed up with excited energy as they waited for Talcott to arrive in Hammerhead. Gladio was about to suggest they played a card game to pass the time when they finally heard the rumble of Talcott’s truck. All three of them rushed out of what used to be Takka’s Pit Stop to greet their King.</p><p>Talcott was who they noticed first, and he beamed at them as he climbed out of the cab. There were tears in his eyes as she approached him to clap him on the shoulder in greeting.</p><p>A man with black hair rounded the side of the truck, and the sapphire blue eyes could have belonged to no one other than Noctis Lucis Caelum. There were more lines around his eyes than they were used to, and his hair was longer, brushing against the collar of his jacket. The boyish charm had left him, but it was undeniably him, the way he lifted one corner of his mouth in a smirk.</p><p>“Hey,” he said in a deeper voice than they had expected.</p><p>“‘Hey’?” she said with a stern but motherly tone. “That’s all you have to say for yourself after all this time?”</p><p>Noctis gave a sheepish smile, and she pulled him into a tight hug.</p><p>“Noct, it’s you!” Prompto cried as he forced them into a group hug. “It’s really you!”</p><p>“Is it?” Noctis joked. “I hadn’t realized.”</p><p>The three of them parted with a chuckle.</p><p>“Well, well,” Ignis said. “You kept us waiting.”</p><p>A dark look flitted across Noctis’s face then, but he quickly replaced it with a smile as he drew Ignis into a hug.</p><p>“Not like I wanted to,” he said. “We’ve got catching up to do.”</p><p>“Yeah, buddy,” Prompto said as he dropped a hand onto Noctis’s shoulder. “You missed a hell of a lot.”</p><p>“Let’s head inside,” Ignis suggested.</p><p>“I’ve already claimed a caravan,” Gladio said as she headed toward the mentioned caravan. “We can eat if everyone’s hungry.”</p><p>“Would that be okay?” Prompto asked as he followed her. “We might get a little noisy for—”</p><p>“I don’t think Noctis would appreciate missing out on seeing this little surprise.”</p><p>“Surprise?” Noctis repeated.</p><p>“Yeah, Iggy and I got together a few years ago.”</p><p>“Whoa! Really?”</p><p>“Is that really so surprising?” Ignis asked, amusement in his tone. “You figured out my feelings for her before I did.”</p><p>“I just found out it’s been ten years since I’ve entered the Crystal. Everything’s weird to me right now.”</p><p>“Fair enough.”</p><p>Gladio went inside the caravan. The Hunter with a broken arm looked up from his phone, eyebrows raising in surprise at seeing her.</p><p>“Hey, kid,” Gladio said in a hushed tone. “Thanks for watching Vivi. I can take over for a little while.”</p><p>“Right, ma’am,” the Hunter said, and he grabbed the pack of food she had given him as payment for watching over a sleeping toddler. “I can come back any time if you need me.”</p><p>“Thanks, buddy.”</p><p>Gladio clapped the kid on the shoulder as he left the caravan. The boy nodded to the other men, and there was no sign of recognition when he looked at Noctis. He had been rather young when the king had disappeared, so it was not so surprising.</p><p>“I’ll go wake him,” Ignis said.</p><p>“I put him in the big bed.”</p><p>Ignis nodded, and he disappeared into the small bedrooms. Noctis and Prompto collapsed together onto the couch, and the dark-haired man frowned as they heard Ignis muttering to a little boy. When Ignis reemerged, it was with Virtus walking beside him, his little hand wrapped around Ignis’s fingers.</p><p>Noctis’s eyebrows flew up to his hairline, and he leaned forward, mouth going slack as he took in the child that looked remarkably like Gladio at his age. Virtus noticed Noctis in the room, and he took a step behind Ignis.</p><p>“Noctis, this is our son, Virtus,” Ignis said, “and Virtus, this is the uncle we’ve told you so much about: Noctis.”</p><p>“Not-tis?” Virtus repeated in a tiny voice.</p><p>“Noctis, darling. Be polite and shake his hand, won’t you?”</p><p>Virtus looked up at his father hesitantly. Ignis smiled, and he gave his back a gentle push toward Noctis. The little boy had a look on his face like he had just sucked on a lemon as he held out his hand to Noctis.</p><p>“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Noctis said, grinning from ear to ear as he shook Virtus’s hand. “Sorry I didn’t come around sooner.”</p><p>“Nice to meet you, too,” Virtus muttered.</p><p>“How old are you?”</p><p>“Um, four?”</p><p>Virtus looked up Ignis, who could not see the boy’s adorable need for assurance in his answer.</p><p>“That’s right, baby,” Gladio said.</p><p>“Four, huh?” Noctis repeated, and a sad look flitted across his face, a suppressed grimace that turned right back into a smile. “You’re old, then.”</p><p>That sour look appeared on his face again, but the politeness he had inherited from Ignis kept him from protesting.</p><p>“Hey, let’s get a picture of all of us,” Prompto piped up, hopping up from the couch as he summoned his camera from the Armiger, “before the little guy has to get back to bed.”</p><p>“Ah, splendid idea, Prompto,” Ignis said, and he lifted Virtus onto his hip. “Perhaps it would be best taken outside?”</p><p>They all filed outside, and they figured out where to stand while Prompto set up his camera and the timer. Gladio let Noctis stand in between her and the boy on Ignis’s hip. When he was ready, Prompto dashed to stand beside Gladio, and they all posed as they waited for the flash of the camera.</p><p>The lighting was a bit of a disaster despite Prompto’s efforts, but it was the best they would get under the current circumstances.</p><p>“Ah, it’s great to have us all together,” Prompto said as he admired the photo.</p><p>“Damn, I look old,” Noctis muttered.</p><p>Gladio snorted, and she patted him on the shoulder. She said that to herself every damn day in the mirror.</p><p>“I’ll put Vivi back to bed,” she said.</p><p>“Ah, wait,” Noctis said, and he dug in his back pocket for something. “I have something I’d like to give to him—something that might help him sleep.”</p><p>Noctis pulled out a familiar, well-worn wooden figurine of Carbuncle, the same one she could recall seeing him holding in his little hand when he had been recovering from the daemon attack all those years ago.</p><p>“If that’s, okay?” Noctis added, even though they were well within earshot of Virtus.</p><p>“That’s from your dad, right?” Gladio asked, taking in the smoothed notches in the sides of the figurine where children had held it countless times.</p><p>“Yeah, it really helped me when I was a kid,” Noctis said, and when he looked up at Gladio, she found tears shining in his eyes. “I might not even be here without it, but I won’t need it where I’m going. I think it’s time I passed it on to someone else.”</p><p>Gladio had no idea what the real purpose behind the thing was. Ignis had mentioned once that he could sense magic clinging to it, but it was nothing like the elemental magic he had access to. Whatever it was, the figurine held some kind of Lucis Caelum secret that Noctis was gifting to her son.</p><p>“Yeah, okay,” she said, and she motioned for him to go on.</p><p>Noctis nodded, and he went up to Ignis and Virtus. He held it up to the boy.</p><p>“Virtus,” he began, “I know you don’t know me, but I think I have something you could make good use of. This is Carbuncle. If you sleep with him close to you, he’ll keep nightmares away.”</p><p>The little boy’s green eyes widened as he looked at the figurine.</p><p>“No more nigh’mares?” he asked.</p><p>“No more nightmares for as long as you take good care of him and keep him close to you. Do you think you could do that?”</p><p>Virtus gave an eager nod, and he reached out for it. Noctis drew it away from his reach.</p><p>“I need you to promise me you’ll take good care of it,” he said. “Carbuncle has been in my family for a long, long time so he needs a lot of care.”</p><p>“I pwomise! I pwomise!”</p><p>Chuckling, Noctis relinquished his gift to the boy, and Virtus took it, eyes wide with excitement.</p><p>“Be polite, Virtus,” Ignis said.</p><p>“Thank you!” Virtus exclaimed, and he hugged the figurine to his chest.</p><p>Gladio chuckled at her son’s excitement.</p><p>“All right, now it’s time to get you back to bed,” Gladio said as she took Virtus from Ignis’s arms. “Say ‘good night’ to everybody!”</p><p>“Good night!” Virtus said as he waved at everybody.</p><p>Virtus gave everyone hugs, including Noctis, even though he was still shy around him, and then she took him inside to tuck him into bed. Ignis gave him an extra long hug because neither of them knew if they would ever get to see him again.</p><p>Gladio tucked her little boy into bed. He kept the wooden figurine tucked into his arm as he waited for Gladio to start up his music for the night. To her surprise, she took her time because she knew she would have to leave with Noctis soon, and she had no idea if she would see him ever again.</p><p>“Mama?” Virtus asked as she set her phone down on the table next to him.</p><p>“What, baby?”</p><p>“Papa said Not-tis is the King.”</p><p>“It’s a little more complicated than that. He’s the King of Kings. He’s a special king.”</p><p>“What does that mean?”</p><p>“He’ll bring back the sun.”</p><p>“Like from Unca Pwom-to’s camera?”</p><p>“Yeah, and there won’t be any more scary daemons either.”</p><p>“Do you have to go with him?”</p><p>Gladio’s throat tightened at that. She had spent the last ten years hoping for the day Noctis would return, but now he was there, she realized she had created a life for herself despite all the difficulties. Now she would have to leave that all behind, like the destruction of Insomnia had forced her to do with her old life.</p><p>“Yeah, your Papa and I both have to go into Insomnia with him,” she said in a quiet tone in hopes it would disguise the emotion in her voice. “We have to make sure he can do his job.”</p><p>It was good that he was used to Gladio and Ignis being away to work because it made it easier to walk away from him without making him worry. He had no idea how difficult their journey through Insomnia would be.</p><p>“Good night, baby,” Gladio said. “Be good for Tyler, okay? He’s in a lot of pain with his broken arm.”</p><p>“I’ll be good.”</p><p>The little boy’s eyes were already drooping, and she was glad that waking him had not disrupted his sleeping schedule too much. Gladio leaned down to kiss the Carbuncle figurine, too, just in case it was listening.</p><p>“Watch over my little boy, all right, Carbuncle?” she said.</p><p>With one more kiss to the forehead, Gladio left Virtus to sleep in his bed, and even as she shed tears, she could not help but feel the heat of determination flooding her chest. She would do her best for not only Noctis but for the future of her little boy.</p><p>The main room was empty, and she caught muffled snippets of the men’s conversation as she walked through it to reach outside.</p><p>“Yeah, Cid’s all the way in Lestallum,” Prompto explained. "He’s been sick, but he helps Cindy whenever he can.”</p><p>“And not a single soul has talked sense into him about it,” Ignis cut in.</p><p>“Sounds like him,” Noctis said.</p><p>“And Dave’s really stepped up in helping organize the Hunters to help Cor and Libs with the Kingsglaive,” Prompto continued, giving Gladio a nod as she joined them outside.</p><p>“Sounds like everyone’s working so hard. Thank you. I wish there was some way I could—”</p><p>“Don’t say you need to make up for it, buddy. You’ve been gathering up strength to bring back the <i>sun</i>. That’s already a lot.”</p><p>Noctis nodded at that, but he held a sadness in his pinched face she had not seen in him since he was a kid. </p><p>“We hoped to ask you one favor, Noctis,” Ignis cut in, and he reached his hand toward Gladio, who was more than happy to take it.</p><p>“Yeah?” Noctis asked, leaning forward in his seat as eagerness softened his face.</p><p>Prompto sat back in his seat, smiling as we watched. He was already aware of where this conversation would go. Gladio recalled the way he had teared up when they had broken the news to him.</p><p>“You know now that Gladio and I are in a relationship, and we have a son together.”</p><p>“It really surprised me. It’s surreal how much I’ve missed, but it’s great that two of you have been happy.”</p><p>“Thank you. A while back, Gladio sat down and discussed our future. We both agreed that we wanted you to officiate our wedding if you agreed to do so.”</p><p>Noctis’s eyebrows flew to his hairline.</p><p>“Of course,” he said. “Of course I can officiate your wedding, but do you really want me to? I mean, I—”</p><p> </p><p>“It would mean the world to us, Noctis. You were the first person I thought of when I considered marriage with Gladio.”</p><p>“And yeah,” Gladio added, “it would be the most perfect wedding I can think of.”</p><p>Noctis nodded, smiling from ear to ear again.</p><p>“It means a lot to me you would have me be a part of your wedding,” he said, deep voice full of emotion.</p><p>“So, you’ll do it?” Gladio asked for clarification.</p><p>“I’d be honored to.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'll admit that my excitement over Final Fantasy VII Remake is partially why I've been so distracted, and now I'm worried that I might now even receive my copy soon. Not that it's any more important than the pandemic, of course. I hope everyone is doing well during all of this! Stay safe and clean!</p><p>Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are deeply appreciated, and they help keep me motivated to write more.</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I apologize if this feels rushed. I took my time with it, but I did try to keep it short. As soon as I get my grubby hands on Final Fantasy VII Remake (which sadly might be a while because I ordered on Amazon), I'll be devoting all of my free time to playing it, and I want to get a few other things done before then.</p><p>Anyway, please enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ten years later, no one would think of Gladio and Ignis wedding as anything special, especially compared to the vow renewal ceremony, but Gladio would always remember as the second most beautiful moment of her life—the first being the day she finally got to go home with her baby boy, of course. It had been the last beautiful moment she had gotten to spend with one of her dearest friends.</p><p>They had had no choice in leaving Virtus under poor Tyler’s care, and with a hot meal in their bellies, they had gone to Insomnia, where they had found Cor defending the Kingsglaive base against some minor daemons. Noctis had married them together in front of the exhausted audience of the Kingsglaive. Prompto had stood as Ignis’s best man while Cor had been Gladio’s.</p><p>It would have been better with Iris as her bridesmaid and Virtus as the ring bearer, but they had been under time constraints. Noctis had not wanted to waste too much time before fighting against Ardyn to usher in the Dawn.</p><p>Gladio knew she would spend the rest of her life wondering if there was something she could have done to save Noctis. It was a ridiculous thing to hate herself for it, she knew. Ignis had spent ten years scouring ancient ruins, and if there had been anything to find, he had been looking in all the wrong places.</p><p>Gladio had the wedding, at least, to cling to whenever the weight of her failure as a Shield threatened to crush her soul. She had a happy face to remember instead of the pained one she had found sitting on the throne with his father’s sword piercing through his chest.</p><p>The battle in front of the Citadel had been difficult, one that had haunted Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto every day since. A legion of daemons had stormed the massive building to stop Noctis from completing his task, and it had been up to the three of them to hold them back. They had received some help from Cor and the other Kingsglaive from a distance, but it would be their connection to Noctis’s powers that would allow them to survive the night. Every time they had died, his magic would revive them, but it had taken a great toll on their bodies and minds.</p><p>Even a few years later, their bodies ached, particularly in places where the daemons had killed them more than once, and nightmares tormented them every once in a while.</p><p>Noctis’s death had affected Ignis the most. He had spent so much time trying to save his brother and friend, but all he had uncovered was an interesting history on Ardyn and the Six. After the Kingsglaive had carried him to an infirmary, he had asked to be alone as much as possible, not even wanting to see Gladio or Virtus, and it would be weeks before he would finally come out again, apologizing profusely for “abandoning” her.</p><p>Prompto had had the opposite reaction, sitting in with her as much as the doctors would allow him to. They would sit there and cry together, barely able to move for the first few days due to the strain the repeated revivals had done to them. His presence had made waiting for Iris to arrive with Virtus more bearable.</p><p>Iris had tried to hide how difficult the news of Noctis’s had been for her. Unlike Noctis’s retinue, the truth of his calling had blindsided. She had thought he had a chance of surviving the ordeal, and she had planned to admit her feelings to him. When she had finally curled up next to Gladio and cried, they had both felt better.</p><p>Gladio had tried her best to convince herself that she had come to terms with his death a long time ago. It had been easy to be strong for Prompto because no one else tried harder than him to be there for others, but then Iris had brought Virtus to her. She had realized that her son would never get to know Noctis—would not even remember meeting him—and that had been enough to help her realize she had never come to terms with his death at any point.</p><p>Noctis was her job, her brother, her <i>friend</i>, and she had gotten to spend so little time with him before the Six had sacrificed him to fix their past mistakes.</p><p>As time passed, they all figured out their new places in the daemon-less world. Ignis was a perfect fit for helping organize people and resources in the rebuilding of Insomnia. Prompto roamed the world to figure out ways to connect everyone not only to each other but to electricity. Iris remained a Hunter to aid people in any way she could. Gladio took over Cor’s role in helping organize Kingsglaive, which became the Lucian Army, and training new recruits.</p><p>That was until Gladio found herself pregnant again, and she realized how exhausted she was after spending her entire life in the military. To her surprise, no one had given her any grief when she had announced her retirement. Gladio had not expected anyone to guilt-trip her into staying, but she had expected some teasing. Instead, everyone had congratulated her on the twins, thrown her a retirement party, and began the search for her replacement.</p><p>“Why does that bother you?” Ignis asked, chuckling.</p><p>Gladio and Ignis had turned in at night after kicking their preteen son off the computer, and she had complained to him how easily the Army had let her go.</p><p>“It doesn’t  me,” Gladio protested as she shuffled herself closer to Ignis to spoon with him.</p><p>“You expected people to beg you to stay?”</p><p>Gladio gave his shoulder a mock punch, earning a chuckle from her husband.</p><p>“Of course not.”</p><p>“Then, what is it?”</p><p>“I don’t know. It just feels weird that there are no expectations on me, and no one <i>needs</i> me to stay. It’s bizarre.”</p><p>“I must admit to having similar feelings when I turned in my resignation this morning.”</p><p>Gladio jolted at that.</p><p>“Really? When were you going to tell me that?”</p><p>“The rebuilding of Insomnia is going well. I feel comfortable leaving the task up to others. Now that we have twins on the way, I don’t want such a time-consuming job.”</p><p>Ignis rolled onto his other side so they were facing each other, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead before wrapping her in his arms.</p><p>“We need to discuss things about our future,” he said. “I’ve been considering opening up a restaurant, now that the economy is doing better.”</p><p>“Where?”</p><p>“I’m not sure. There has been an effort to rebuild Galdin Quay, but that’s not the only place we could go.”</p><p>Gladio snuggled deeper into Ignis, feeling the exhaustion of carrying twins creep into her bones, and she sighed.</p><p>“That sounds nice, and with Weskham sick, you’re the best chef in all of Eos right now.”</p><p>“Rather bold of you to say.”</p><p>“It’s true.”</p><p>“I appreciate it.”</p><p>“Just don’t make any more big decisions like that without me okay?”</p><p>Ignis’s chuckle was the only thing she remembered before slipping into unconsciousness.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And here we have it. I feel a little bad that this isn't going to be a full novel, which I now think it deserves. Still, I had fun writing this. I think it helped me work myself out of a writer's burnout.</p><p>Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought of it!<br/>If there is something that was confusing or that you would like me to expand upon, I would love to know!</p>
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